HISTORY 


COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY, 


FROM  ITS  ORIGIN  IN  1746  TO  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  1854. 


BY 


JOHN    MACLEAN, 

TENTH   PRESIDENT   OF   THE   COLLEGE. 


VOLUME    I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT   &   CO. 

1877. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

JOHN    MACLEAN. 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORfl 
SANTA  B  All  J  Alt  A  COLLEGE  LIBRA] 


Y.I 


TO 

JAMES    LENOX,   ESQUIRE,   LL.D., 

WHOSE  MUNIFICENCE  TO  THE  COLLEGE 

DURING    THE    AUTHOR'S    ADMINISTRATION 

GIVES   HIM  A  CLAIM  TO   THE  GRATITUDE 
OF  ALL  ITS   FRIENDS, 

THIS  HISTORY  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY 

IS     MOST     RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 


THE  plan  of  this  work  will  be  seen  at  once  by  a  glance  at  the 
table  of  contents. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Trustees  resigning  the  office  of  President, 
the  writer  mentioned  that  it  was  his  purpose  to  devote  a  portion 
of  his  time  to  the  collecting  of  materials  for  a  history  of  the  Col- 
lege. Accordingly,  the  earlier  portions  of  his  manuscripts  were 
labelled  "  materials  for  a  history."  But,  learning  that  his  former 
colleagues,  and  also  the  friends  of  the  College  generally,  looked 
to  him  to  set  in  order  and  to  publish,  as  well  as  to  collect,  the 
requisite  facts  for  a  history  of  the  institution,  he  determined  to 
do  what  he  could  in  this  direction ;  and  the  following  volumes 
are  the  result. 

This  statement  will  account,  in  a  measure,  for  whatever  lack 
there  may  be  of  a  proper  grouping  of  the  incidents  given  in  the 
narratives  of  the  different  administrations. 

Several  important  matters,  which  at  the  first  he  intended  to 
introduce  into  this  work,  have  been  omitted,  for  the  reason  that 
they  have  already  been  given  to  the  public, — viz.,  sketches  of  the 
two  literary  societies  of  the  College,  and  brief  notices  of  the 
more  distinguished  graduates.  The  Histories  of  the  Societies, 
by  Professors  Giger  and  Cameron,  and  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  D.  Alexander,  entitled  "  Princeton  College  during  the 
Eighteenth  Century,"  have  happily  relieved  the  writer  from  any 
obligation  to  attempt  what  these  gentlemen  have  done  so  well ; 
and  it  is  earnestly  hoped  that  Dr.  Alexander's  work  may  be  so 
enlarged  as  to  include  at  least  the  graduates  of  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

In  this  work  the  writer  has  had  in  view  two  classes  of  readers : 
one  being  those  friends  of  the  College  who  wish  to  have  a  general 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

knowledge  of  the  institution, — viz.,  of  its  origin,  its  design,  its 
methods  of  instruction,  and  its  success  ;  and  the  other  consisting 
of  those  who  desire  to  know  more  fully  the  various  measures 
adopted  from  time  to  time  to  attain  the  ends  sought;  and  a 
knowledge  of  which  maybe  of  special  use  to  those  whose  duty 
it  is  to  watch  over  the  institution,  and  to  whom  a  detail,  to  some 
extent,  of  the  various  doings  of  the  Trustees  and  of  the  Faculty 
in  times  past  may  be  of  assistance  in  determining  their  own 
course  of  action.  To  many  of  the  graduates,  too,  it  may  be  a 
matter  of  interest  to  have  an  authentic  account  of  the  views  and 
plans  of  the  Trustees  in  different  periods  of  the  history  of  the 
College ;  and  for  them  numerous  extracts  are  given  from  the 
Minutes  of  the  Board  and  from  other  documents. 

To  meet  these  different  views,  the  writer  has  adopted  the  plan 
of  having  the  work  printed  with  two  different  sets  of  type,  in 
the  smaller  of  which  most  of  the  extracts  from  minutes  and 
public  records  will  be  printed.  The  rest  of  the  work  will  be 
in  larger  type,  and  of  itself  will  form  a  narrative  suited  to  the 
class  of  readers  first  spoken  of. 

Another  object  aimed  at  in  giving  the  official  statements  is 
to  secure  their  preservation  in  case  the  volumes  containing 
them  should  be  lost  or  destroyed. 

The  citations  from  the  College  records  are  in  some  cases  fol- 
lowed by  an  expression  of  the  writer's  own  views  in  reference 
to  the  matters  therein  mentioned. 

Had  the  writer's  health  permitted  it,  he  would  have  devoted 
some  time  to  a  thorough  revision  of  this  work,  omitting  some 
parts  and  rewriting  others,  in  the  hope  of  thereby  making  the 
entire  work  more  acceptable  to  the  reader;  but,  his  age  and 
health  forbidding  this,  it  must  go  to  the  press  as  it  is.  He  is 
not,  however,  without  hope  that,  whatever  may  be  its  defects, 
he  has  clearly  shown  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  founders 
of  the  College,  and  of  their  successors  in  office,  to  make  the 
institution  one  devoted  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  by  promoting  the  advancement  of  piety  and  learning 
in  happy  union. 

For  reasons  which  will  readily  occur  to  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
this  history  is  brought  down  only  to  the  date  of  the  writer's 


PREFACE.  7 

inauguration  as  President.  It  would  give  him  sincere  pleasure 
to  bring  mtofull  view  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  all  his 
colleagues,  and  especially  by  those  associated  with  him  in  the 
instruction  and  government  of  the  institution  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  presidency  to  its  close;  but  the  limit  which  he  has 
assigned  himself  prevents  this  from  being  done.  Doubtless 
some  other  annalist  of  the  College  will  give  such  a  record  of 
the  labors  of  those  who  contributed  so  greatly  to  its  success 
from  1854  to  1868,  during  which  period  the  number  of  under- 
graduates increased  from  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  to  three 
hundred  and  fourteen,  as  was  the  case  in  1 860-61  ;  and  although 
these  numbers,  in  consequence  of  the  civil  war,  were  reduced 
in  1 86 1-2  to  about  two  hundred  and  twenty,  yet  in  1868,  the 
last  year  of  the  writer's  connection  with  the  College,  they  again 
reached  two  hundred  and  sixty-four,  with  a  fair  prospect  of  a 
still  larger  increase  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year, — the  num- 
ber of  new  students  for  the  College  year  of  1867-68  being  one 
hundred  and  eleven,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  five  entered 
College  the  first  term  of  that  year. 

At  different  periods  in  the  history  of  the  College  the  cur- 
riculum has  varied  more  or  less,  and  greater  prominence  was 
given  to  one  class  of  studies  than  to  another;  and  in  the  period 
just  referred  to,  the  course  of  study,  religious  and  secular,  was 
considerably  enlarged,  and  the  requirements  for  admission  to 
the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  learn- 
ing. With  the  exception  of  the  French  and  German  languages, 
the  study  of  which  was  optional,  all  the  branches  of  knowledge 
taught  in  the  College  were  made  parts  of  the  regular  course, 
which  every  student  was  required  to  pursue. 

Of  the  condition  of  the  College  finances  during  the  same 
period,  viz.,  from  1854  to  1868,  while  the  subject  is  yet  fresh  in 
his  mind,  the  writer  deems  it  due  to  some  of  his  friends  to  say 
in  this  connection  a  few  words. 

Within  the  time  here  mentioned,  and  the  year  preceding, 
viz.,  the  last  year  of  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration,  after  paying 
all  the  ordinary  and  contingent  expenses  of  the  College,  and 
those  incurred  in  the  rebuilding  of  Nassau  Hall  in  1855-56,  the 
actual  increase  in  \\\Q  funds  vested  in  bonds,  mortgages,  and  public 


8  PREFACE. 

securities,  and  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Professors  Hope  and 
Atwater,  was  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars.  Of  this  sum,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars were  contributed  for  professorships,  over  fifty-five  thousand 
dollars  for  scholarships,  about  sixty-four  thousand  dollars  for 
general  purposes,  and  six  thousand  dollars  for  prizes. 

From  a  gift  and  a  bequest  by  the  late  Dr.  John  N.  Woodhull, 
of  Princeton,  to  found  a  professorship,  the  College  became  the 
owner  of  all  his  houses  and  lots  adjacent  to  the  College  grounds, 
and  extending  on  William  Street  from  the  road  or  path  west 
of  Dickinson  Hall  to  Washington  Street,  with  the  exception  of 
a  small  house  and  lot  purchased  by  the  College  a  year  or  two 
before,  and  on  Washington  Street  from  the  corner  of  William 
and  Washington  Streets  to  Nassau,  on  the  main  street  of  Prince- 
ton, the  corner  house  and  lot  on  Nassau  Street  included;  the 
estimated  value  at  that  time  being  twenty  thousand  dollars. 
Since  then  this  property  has  greatly  increased  in  value. 

The  house  and  lot  on  William  Street,  mentioned  as  having 
been  purchased  by  the  College,  cost  between  one  and  two 
thousand  dollars. 

This  increase  in  the  real  estate  and  in  the  other  permanent 
funds  of  the  College  is  exclusive  of  the  first  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars given  in  1865  by  General  N.  N.  Halsted  for  the  erection  of 
the  Astronomical  Observatory,  which  was  completed  by  him  in 
1872,  at  an  expense  of  fifty  thousand  dollars;  exclusive,  too,  of 
the  sum  of  five 'thousand  five  hundred  dollars  expended  by  the 
College  in  the  purchase  of  the  site  on  which  the  Observatory 
stands, — of  which  sum  three  thousand  dollars  were  a  bequest 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Van  Rensselaer  towards  the  establishment  of 
an  Observatory;  exclusive  also  of  the  sixteen  thousand  dollars 
given  in  1866  by  John  C.  Green,  Esq.,  for  the  purchase  of  the 
lots  on  which  "  Dickinson  Hall"  was  built  by  him  three  or  four 
years  after;  and  of  the  further  gift  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  the  spring  of  1868  by  the  same  gentleman.  It  is 
also  exclusive  of  the  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars,  over  and 
above  the  twelve  thousand  dollars  insurance,  expended  in  the 
rebuilding  and  enlarging  of  "Nassau  Hall"  in  1855-56;  of 
which  sum  eighteen  thousand  dollars  were  gifts  and  twenty 


PREFACE.  9 

thousand  dollars  the  excess  of  the  receipts  above  the  ordinary 
expenses  of  the  College  from  1854  to  1860.  The  aggregate  of 
the  above  sums  is  four  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
of  which  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  gifts 
or  bequests.  Besides  the  above,  there  were  three  bequests 
amounting  to  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  which  have  been  paid 
since  1868;  and  another  bequest  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  a 
vested  legacy  (to  found  a  professorship),  not  yet-  due,  but  the 
payment  of  which  was  made  sure  by  the  donor. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  donors  that  these  several  bequests 
should  be  made  parts  of  a  permanent  endowment;  and  if  they 
be  added  to  the  above  they  will  make  the  increase  in  this  class 
of  funds  from  July,  1853,  to  Ju^y»  1868,  not  less  than  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  thousand  dollars. 

During  this  period  the  President's  house  and  a  house  occu- 
pied by  one  of  the  Professors  were  also  enlarged  and  improved, 
at  an  expense  of  several  thousand  dollars,  which  without  any 
impropriety  might  have  been  added  to  the  above  amount.  And 
within  the  same  time  two  other  friends  of  the  College  in  their 
respective  wills  made  provision  for  the  endowment  by  each  of 
them  of  a  professorship,  which  at  a  future  day  will  doubtless  be 
established  and  the  original  bequests  enlarged.  In  addition  to 
the  sums  above  mentioned  as  contributed  to  the  permanent  funds, 
nine  thousand  dollars  were  given  towards  the  current  expenses 
of  the  College,  viz.,  five  thousand  dollars,  in  ten  semi-annual  in- 
stalments of  five  hundred  dollars  each,  to  aid  in  establishing  a 
professorship  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  for  the  professorship  of  Geology  and  Physical  Geogra- 
phy, and  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  to  meet  a  deficiency  in 
the  income  of  the  College  consequent  on  losses  during  the  first 
year  of  the  late  civil  war.  Several  thousand  dollars  were  also 
given  to  an  association  formed  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  indi- 
gent and  worthy  young  men,  without  respect  to  the  particular 
professions  to  which  they  proposed  to  devote  themselves.  This 
fund  has  already  rendered  valuable,  assistance  to  as  many  as 
thirty  students  of  the  College. 

To  what  extent  the  College  was  indebted  to  its  then  Treasurer, 
the  late  Governor  Charles  S.  Olden,  for  the  above-mentioned 


10 


PREFACE. 


gifts  of  the  late  John  C.  Green,  Esq.,  will  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing correspondence,  begun  on  the  4th  of  August,  1866,  very 
nearly  two  years  before  the  end  of  the  writer's  administration. 
This  difference  of  dates  will  account  for  one  or  two  seeming 
discrepancies  between  the  writer's  statement  and  that  of  the 
Governor's  in  regard  to  the  College  finances. 

Governor  Olden's  letter  to  Mr.  Green  : 

"PRINCETON,    August   4,    1866. 

"  JOHN  C.  GREEN,  ESQ.  : 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  the  age  in  which  we  live,  whatever  has  a 
tendency  to  improve  agriculture  and  manufactures  and  advance 
useful  science  is  attracting  the  attention  of  the  best  men  of  the 
civilized  world.  The  urgent  necessity  of  thoroughly  educating 
a  large  portion  of  the  youth  in  those  branches  termed  'Applied 
Science'  is  apparent.  This  necessity  has  led  to  the  establishment 
of  many  private  schools  and  academies  in  which  these  subjects 
receive  special  attention,  and  it  has  led  to  the  organization  by 
most  of  the  principal  colleges  of  the  country  of  departments 
in  which  these  subjects  are  thoroughly  taught.  Several  of  the 
prominent  colleges  of  New  England  have  recently  established 
such  departments,  and  where  already  in  existence  they  have 
been  greatly  enlarged.  The  college  at  Easton,  Pennsylvania, 
has  by  the  contributions  of  the  citizens  of  that  State  organized 
a  department  of'*  Applied  Science.'  So  also  has  Rutgers  Col- 
lege, at  New  Brunswick,  in  this  State.  And  a  college  is  started 
at  Allentown  [Bethlehem],  Pennsylvania,  through  the  munifi- 
cence of  Judge  Packer,  to  be  under  Episcopal  influence,  in 
which  these  are  to  be  prominently  taught.  This  gives  those  in- 
stitutions advantages  over  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  has 
already  drawn  away  some  of  her  students  and  deterred  others 
from  coming.  The  Faculty  realizing  this,  and  unwilling  this 
time-honored  institution  should  lose  the  position  (so  long  occu- 
pied) among  the  foremost  in  the  United  States,  drew  a  paper 
which  was  laid  before  the  Trustees,  setting  forth  what  they 
thought  should  be  taught  in  the  department  of  '  Applied  Sci- 
ence,' and  what  was  needed  to  carry  it  into  effect.  A  copy  of 


PREFACE.  u 

this  is  enclosed  herewith,  and  I  have  noted  on  it  some  changes 
that  could,  I  think,  be  advantageously  made. 

"Your  brother,  the  Chancellor,  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
influential  Trustees,  and  always  manifested  great  interest  in  the 
College.  His  attention  had  been  for  some  time  directed  to  this 
subject,  and  in  conversation  with  him  about  a  year  ago  he  told 
me  that  on  a  recent  visit  to  Princeton  -he  had  looked  at  the  land 
owned  by  the  College,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  whether 
there  was  any  eligible  site  for  a  building  suitable  for  a  scientific 
department.  I  gave  him  some  information  about  lands  adjoin- 
ing the  College  property,  which  induced  him  to  ask  me  to  furnish 
him  with  some  maps,  etc.,  and  ascertain  the  price  for  which  the 
land  referred  to  could  be  obtained,  in  order  that  he  might  fully 
understand  the  matter.  Some  time  after,  I  did  so,  and  told  him 
that  I  had  obtained  a  refusal  of  the  property  until  the  first  of 
January  next  (now  last).  His  official  business  was  at  this  time 
very  engrossing,  and  I  forbore  saying  anything  further  to  him 
on  the  subject  until  the  expiration  of  the  time  for  which  I  had 
the  refusal  of  the  property,  when  he  informed  me  that  he  had 
not  had  leisure  to  give  the  subject  the  attention  he  desired,  but 
would  do  so  ere  long.  With  some  difficulty  I  got  the  time  ex- 
tended (for  which  I  had  the  refusal)  one  month ;  but  before  I 
saw  him  again  he  was  taken  sick,  and  I  have  not  since  thought 
it  proper  to  call  his  attention  to  it,  as  he  had  more  requiring  his 
supervision  than  the  state  of  his  health  warranted.  In  our  first 
conversation  he  intimated,  as  I  understood  him,  that  he  believed 
you  felt  interested  in  Princeton  College,  and  possibly,  if  satisfied 
that  decided  good  could  be  effected,  this  subject  might  be  con- 
sidered by  you  favorably.  I  am  emboldened  by  this  allusion 
to  you  to  lay  this  matter  before  you;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that, 
if  known  to  him,  my  doing  so  would  meet  his  approval.  I 
send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  map  furnished  the  Chancellor, 
giving  a  sketch  of  the  property  now  owned  by  the  College,  and 
of  that  which  it  is  desirable  to  obtain  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  plan  of  a  scientific  department  properly, — also  the  prices  at 
which  I  had  the  refusal  of  the  several  parcels  making  up  the 
plot. 

"  You  are  aware  that  the  College  of  New  Jersey  is  among  the 


I2  PREFACE. 

oldest  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States,  two  only 
(or  at  most  three)  being  older,  and  yet  it  has  had  less  outside 
assistance  by  far  than  any  of  the  other  prominent  ones.  It  has 
struggled  along,  relying  on  its  own  resources  almost  entirely, 
until  within  a  few  years,  when  several  friends  have  come  to  its 
aid.  In  1844,  when  I  became  particularly  acquainted  with  its 
financial  condition,  it  had  a  charitable  fund  of  about  twelve 
thousand  dollars,  and  all  the  other  funds  belonging  to  it,  after 
paying  its  debts,  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  dollars.  Its 
finances  improved  somewhat  between  this  time  and  1855,  when 
the  main  building  of  the  College  was  burned.  It  was  insured 
for  twelve  thousand  dollars ;  about  eighteen  thousand  were 
contributed  by  sundry  persons  towards  rebuilding  it,  and  the 
balance  of  the  fifty  thousand  dollars  which  it  cost  to  erect  it 
was  supplied  by  the  savings  of  the  business  of  the  College  the 
previous  and  the  succeeding  five  years,  during  which  its  affairs 
were  quite  prosperous.* 

"  A  short  time  before  this  event,  an  effort  had  been  commenced 
to  raise  a  sum  by  establishing  scholarships,  of  one  thousand 
dollars  each,  to  aid  in  educating  destitute  young  men  intended 
for  the  ministry,  and,  in  some  cases,  others.  This  effort  was 
continued  through  several  years,  and  was  quite  successful, 
realizing  over  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

"In  the  year  1862  it  became  apparent  that  the  loss  of  the 
Southern  students  in  consequence  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  in- 
creased cost  of  living,  required  an  increase  of  the  Professors' 
salaries ;  and,  as  the  College  could  not  get  on  with  the  means 
then  at  command,  an  effort  was  in  consequence  made  to  se- 
cure what  was  termed  an  '  Endowment  Fund.'  Over  sixty-five 
thousand  dollars  were  subscribed  and  paid  to  the  College,  and 
one  professorship  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  and  one  of  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollars  were  also  established.  A  professorship 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  had  been  formed  some  years 
before  by  the  united  contributions  of  a  number  of  individuals, 
and  there  is  a  probability  that  another  will  be  secured  ere  long. 
The  whole  funds  of  the  College  now  amount  to  about  two  hun- 

*  These  six  years  were  the  first  six  years  of  Dr.  Maclean's  administration. 


PREFACE.  j^ 

dred  and  forty  thousand  dollars,*  which  it  is  believed  is  securely 
invested  at  an  interest  averaging  seven  per  cent,  per  annum. 
As  at  present  situated,  and  with  a  continuance  of  the  number 
of  students  in  attendance  the  last  three  years,  the  income  and 
the  expenses  of  the  College  are  about  equal.  There  is  little 
or  nothing  left  at  the  close  of  each  year  with  which  to  make 
improvements  or  to  enlarge  the  operations  of  the  institution. 
When  the  resources  of  the  College  are  compared  with  those  of 
other  prominent  colleges  of  the  country,  it  is  astonishing  that 
it  has  been  able  to  maintain  its  established  reputation.  While 
Harvard  and  Yale  each  have  funds  amounting  to  millions  of 
dollars,  and  colleges  of  less  note  quadruple  of  those  of  Prince- 
ton, it  has  required  all  the  talent  of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  of 
Princeton  College  to  maintain  her  reputation ;  and  without  fur- 
ther aid  it  will  probably  be  impossible  for  them  to  do  it  much 
longer.  For  some  reason,  after  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was 
fairly  in  operation,  it  appears  to  have  been  taken  for  granted 
that  it  needed  no  further  assistance.  It  received  nothing,  com- 
paratively, until  within  a  few  years,  while  other  colleges  have 
been  the  recipients  of  munificent  gifts.  Other  States  have  made 
liberal  appropriations  to  their  colleges.  New  Jersey,  though 
solicited,  has  done  nothing  in  aid  of  that  which  for  many  years 
was  her  only  one.  Individuals  appear  to  have  forgotten  her 
altogether.  Mr.  James  Lenox,  of  New  York,  is  an  exception, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  his  liberality  the  College  would  have 
been  seriously  embarrassed.  At  a  later  period  other  friends  of 
the  institution  have  contributed  liberally  and  made  up  what  is 
the  present  fund.  The  great  importance  of  the  College,  its  in- 
fluence for  good  to  the  country  generally  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  particular,  have  not,  I  think,  been  duly  considered. 


*  This  sum  does  not  include  the  notes  of  the  late  Captain  Silas  Holmes,  of  New 
York,  amounting  to  thirty  thousand  dollars,  given  by  him  to  found  a  professorship 
and  five  scholarships,  the  principal  payable  at  the  option  of  the  donor,  the  interest 
at  six/<?r  cent,  payable  on  the  1st  of  January  and  the  1st  of  July  in  each  year.  Cap- 
tain Holmes  died  before  the  date  of  this  letter,  and,  as  the  payment  of  the  principal 
was  not  at  that  time  fully  secured  by  bond  and  mortgage,  Governor  Olden  did  not 
reckon  the  notes  of  Captain  Holmes  as  a  part  of  the  vested  funds  of  the  College. 


!4  PREFACE. 

"  Princeton  stands  alone  as  having  for  more  than  a  century 
taught  nothing  in  Theology  but  the  purest  doctrines,  as  under- 
stood by  the  Old  School  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and,  pursuing  the  same  course  unwaveringly,  is  at  this  time 
doing  more  probably  for  the  cause  of  sound  principles  and  true 
religion  than  any  institution  in  the  land  ;  in  evidence  of  which 
it  may  be  stated  that  two-thirds  of  all  the  students  in  College 
during  the  last  session  were  professors  of  religion,  the  greater 
portion  of  whom  became  such  after  entering.  The  opportunity 
afforded  of  making  lasting  impressions  on  the  minds  of  youth 
at  a  period  when  they  are  most  impressible  is  nowhere  more 
fully  understood  or  diligently  improved  than  by  the  President 
and  Professors  of  this  College.  While  errorists  abound  and 
are  zealous  in  disseminating  heterodoxy  over  the  land,  the  in- 
fluence for  good  of  the  band  of  young  men  yearly  passing  out 
from  'the  College  of  New  Jersey'  is  incalculable.  We  need 
only  look  over  the  country  and  observe  what  men  are  giving 
direction  to  public  sentiment,  to  see  how  mighty  the  influence 
exercised  by  it.  In  the  pulpit  her  graduates  are  unsurpassed 
for  learning  and  piety.  In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  (the 
only  men  in  that  body  whom  no  one  ventured  to  approach  with 
business  on  the  Sabbath  were  Frelinghuysen  and  Berrien,  both 
graduates  of  Princeton),  in  Congress,  on  the  bench  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  in  the  State  Courts  (all  the  Chancellors  of  the 
State  under  the  present  Constitution  were  graduates  of  this 
College),  and  of  eminent  and  influential  men,  there  are  more  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  graduates  who  are  from  Princeton 
than  from  any  other  institution  in  this  country.  But  I  will  not 
enlarge  further  on  the  importance  of  the  College.  My  object 
is,  principally,  to  inform  you  that  those  best  able  to  judge  think 
that  a  department  of  'Applied  Science'  is  very  much  needed 
to  enable  her  to  keep  her  standard  of  instruction  equal  to  that 
of  other  prominent  institutions.  Knowing  that  you  are  a  Jer- 
seyman,  and  believing  you  are  interested  in  all  that  concerns 
our  native  State,  I  do  not  doubt  that  you  sympathize  with  those 
who  congratulate  themselves  on  having  at  least  one  institution 
in  New  Jersey  of  which  they  are  proud.  Should  you  feel  suf- 
ficient interest  in  the  matter  to  induce  you  to  desire  further  in- 


PREFACE.  !5 

formation,  I  will  cheerfully  give  it;  or  can  you  not  make  me  a 
visit,  and  I  could  point  out  the  localities  and  explain  everything 
more  fully  here  than  elsewhere?  If  you  should  incline  to  come, 
let  me  know  a  few  days  before,  as  I  should  regret  being  absent. 
No  one  connected  with  the  College  knows  that  I  am  writing  to 
you,  and  you  can,  if  you  desire  it,  be  entirely  private  while  here. 
"Trusting  that  you  will  not  consider  me  intrusive  in  address- 
ing you,  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  Yours,  etc., 

"CHAS.  S.  OLDEN." 

Copies  of  two  letters  of  the  same  date  from  John  C.  Green, 
Esq.,  to  the  Hon.  Charles  S.  Olden : 

"  NEW  YORK,  December  24,  1870. 

"  HON.  CHARLES  S.  OLDEN,  Princeton,  New  Jersey : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  your  letter  of  the  23d  instant,  ac- 
companying the  final  accounts  of  the  cost  of  Dickinson  Hall 
and  the  grounds  pertaining  thereto. 

"  Herewith  I  hand  you  my  check  on  the  National  Bank  of 
Commerce,  in  New  York,  payable  to  your  order,  for  ten  thou- 
sand and  ninety-seven  dollars  and  twenty-nine  cents  ($10,097.29), 
which  is  the  balance  represented  in  said  accounts  to  be  due  to 
the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

'•'  It  was  my  intention  to  leave  the  provisions  of  the  Elizabeth 
Endowment  absolutely  to  you  and  my  brother,  the  Chancellor. 
I  have  not  the  deed  at  hand,  and  cannot,  therefore,  express  an 
intelligent  opinion  on  the  point  regarding  which  you  ask  my 
'further  directions.'  I  leave  it  to  your  own  judgment,  and 
whatever  your  decision  may  be  I  now  confirm  it. 

"  This  letter  is  official.  I  write  another  of  a  personal  character, 
which  is  due  to  the  occasion,  but  which,  for  want  of  time,  may 
not  reach  you  by  this  mail. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  JNO.  C.  GREEN." 

"NEW  YORK,  December  24,  1870. 
"  Hox.  CHARLES  S.  OLDEN,  Princeton  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  already  acknowledged  the  receipt  of 


!6  PREFACE. 

your  letter  of  the  23d  instant,  and  complied  with  its  business 
requirements.  Now  I  propose  to  add  what  the  occasion  calls 
for  besides. 

"  Your  letter  of  August  4,  1866,  now  lies  before  me,  and  has 
just  been  reperused.  This  was  the  beginning  of  our  corre- 
spondence on  the  subject  of  the  affairs  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  origin  of  all  that  I  have  done  for  the  institution. 

"  My  belief  in  the  fulness  of  your  knowledge,  and  confidence 
in  your  judgment  and  public  spirit,  led  me  to  consider  your 
opinions  with  more  than  ordinary  care,  and  to  examine  anew 
the  claims  of  the  College  to  public  aid.  My  brother  Henry 
was  absent  in  Europe.  On  his  return,  consultation  with  him 
confirmed  my  own  favorable  conclusions,  and  induced  me  to 
enter  upon  the  work  which  has  just  been  finished.  Its  subse- 
quent conduct  having  been  intrusted  absolutely  to  my  brother 
and  yourself.no  cause  of  anxiety  was  allowed  to  remain  lest  the 
money  bestowed  should  be  extravagantly  or  unwisely  disbursed. 

"  The  first  proposed  contract,  which  was  not  executed, 
strengthened  my  conviction  that  a  restraining  and  controlling 
power  was  needed  other  than  that  of  the  official  authorities. 
With  the  prosecution  and  completion  of  the  undertaking  I  am 
fully  satisfied,  and  beg  you,  my  dear  sir,  to  accept  my  hearty 
thanks  for  your  ready  acceptance  of  the  trust,  and  for  the  fidelity, 
wisdom,  and  success  with  which  it  has  been  discharged. 

"  My  pleasure  is  enhanced  by  the  consideration  that  a  tried 
and  valued  friend  has  crowned  a  life  of  honor  and  usefulness  by 
rendering  this  (among  other  important  services  running  through 
a  long  course  of  years)  important  aid  to  an  eminent  institution 
of  learning  which  confers  blessings  on  the  State  and  the  world. 
"  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  very  faithfully,  your  friend, 

"  JNO.  C.  GREEN." 

In  preparing  this  history,  the  author  has  availed  himself  of 
all  the  sources  of  information  within  his  reach,  and,  except 
through  some  inadvertence,  he  has  not  failed  to  refer  to  his 
authorities  and  to  name  the  authors  from  whom  he  had  occa- 
sion to  cite  either  passages  or  facts.  Among  these,  and  chiefly, 
are: 


PREFACE.  I7 

The  College  Records. 

The  Minutes  of  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Diary,  in  manuscript,  of  President  Davies,  during  his  visit  to  Great  Britain 
in  behalf  of  the  College  in  1753-4. 

An  Account  of  the  College,  published  by  order  of  the  Trustees,  in  1764. 

Memoranda,  by  Mr.  N.  F.  Randolph,  of  Princeton,  respecting  the  charters,  and 
the  erection  of  Nassau  Hall. 

Governor  Belcher's  Correspondence,  in  manuscript. 

Letters  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Treat,  of  Abington,  Penn- 
sylvania, written  from  Scotland  in  1767. 

President  Witherspoon's  Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Jamaica  and  other  West 
India  Islands  in  behalf  of  the  College,  and  other  papers  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his 
works,  W.  W.  Woodward  publisher. 

President  Green's  Notes  respecting  the  College,  his  Autobiography,  and  his 
Address  before  the  Alumni  Association  of  Nassau  Hall. 

"History  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  from  1746  to  1783,"  by  a  graduate 
(Rev.  Dr.  William  A.  Dod),  in  1844. 

"  Historical  Sketch  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,"  by  Robert  Edgar,  a  student 
of  the  College,  1859. 

Dr.  Samuel  D.  Alexander's  "  Princeton  College." 

Professor  Cameron's  "  History  of  the  American  Wing  Society." 

Professor  Giger's  "  History  of  the  Cliosophic  Society." 

The  "  New  York  Gazette  and  Mercury." 

The  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette." 

The  "  Pennsylvania  Chronicle." 

"  Wood's  Gazette,"  of  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

"Newark  Daily  Advertiser." 

"  New  Jersey  State  Gazette." 

Mr.  Samuel  Smith's  "  History  of  New  Jersey." 

Hon.  William  Smith's  "  History  of  New  York." 

Mr.  William  A.  Whitehead's  "  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors." 

Mr.  Whitehead's  "  Contributions." 

"  Minutes  of  the  Provincial  Council." 

Judge  Field's  "  Provincial  Courts." 

Judge  Elmer's  "  Constitution,  etc.,  of  New  Jersey." 

Dr.  Hodge's  "  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

Rev.  Richard  Webster's  "  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church." 

Dr.  A.  Alexander's  "  Log  College." 

"  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,"  vol.  i. 

Dr.  Bellamy's  Correspondence,  in  manuscript. 

Dr.  Sprague's  "  Annals." 

President  Quincy's  "  History  of  Harvard  University." 

"  Life  of  Mrs.  Quincy,"  by  her  daughter,  Miss  Quincy. 

Charters  and  Catalogues  of  Yale  College. 

Professor  Kingsley's  sketches  of  the  history  of  Yale  College. 

President  Clap's  "  Defence  of  the  Charter  of  Yale  College,"  given  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  the  "  History  of  the  Dartmouth  College  Case." 
VOL.  I. — 2 


1 8  PREFACE. 

President  Porter's  "  Life  of  Professor  Silliman,  of  Yale  College." 

"  History  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  of  Virginia." 

"  History  of  Brown  University,"  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Guild,  the  Librarian. 

Judge  Bradley's  Discourse  at  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  Rutgers  College. 

Dr.  Stearns's  "  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  New  Jersey." 

Dr.  Hall's  "  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Trenton,  New  Jersey." 

Dr.  Davidson's  "  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  New  Brunswick, 
New  Jersey." 

Dr.  Hatfield's  "  History  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey." 

Dr.  Gibbon's  "  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  President  Davies,"  London. 

President  Finley's  "  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  President  Davies." 

Dr.  Rodgers's  "  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Dr.  Witherspoon." 

Dr.  E.  S.  Dwight's  "  Life  of  President  Edwards." 

Dr.  Beasley's  "  Life  of  President  S.  S.  Smith." 

"  Princeton  Review." 

"  New  York  Medical  Repository." 

"  The  Presbyterian  Magazine,"  of  Philadelphia,  edited  by  Dr.  C.  Van  Rens- 
selaer. 

"  Princeton  Magazine,"  edited  by  William  C.  Alexander,  LL.D. 

Mr.  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the  United  States." 

Dr.  Foote's  "  Sketches  of  Virginia"  and  "  Sketches  of  North  Carolina." 

"  Life  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,"  by  his  son,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D. 

"  Life  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Alexander,"  by  his  son,  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  W.  Alex- 
ander. 

"  Life  of  James  Madison,  Fourth  President  of  the  United  States,"  by  William  C. 
Rives,  of  Virginia,  United  States  Senator. 

Dr.  Franklin's  Life  and  Essays. 

Bishop  Johns's  "  Life  of  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia." 

Mrs.  Lee's  Life  of  her  father,  George  Washington  Parke  Custis. 

Judge  Duer's  "  Life  of  Lord  Stirling." 

Dr.  Carnahan's  "  Life  of  Dr.  John  Johnston,  of  Newburgh,  New  York,"  and 
some  manuscripts 'papers  of  his,  including  Dr.  Carnahan's  Sermon  at  Colonel 
Aaron  Burr's  funeral. 

"  The  Forum  and  the  Bar,"  by  David  Paul  Brown,  Esq. 

Dr.  Allibone's  "  Dictionary  of  Authors." 

Dr.  Morse's  "  American  Gazetteer." 

Messrs.  Barber  and  Howe's  "  Historical  Collections  from  New  Jersey  and 
Virginia." 

Frank  Moore's  "  Diary." 

The  Biographical  Dictionaries  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Allen,  Blake,  and  Lempriere. 

Manuscript  letters  of  Joseph  Shippen,  a  student  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey 

in  1750-53- 

Mr.  Parton's  account  of  Rittenhouse's  orrery,  in  the  "  New  York  Ledger." 

The  readers  of  this  history  cannot  fail  to  observe  that  the 
writer  has  freely  expressed  his  opinions  in  reference  to  various 
measures  adopted  from  time  to  time  by  the  authorities  of  the 


PREFACE.  !£ 

College  touching  its  course  of  instruction  and  discipline,  and 
with  respect  to  its  fiscal  affairs.  For  these  opinions  he  alone  is 
responsible;  and  yet  he  cannot  but  indulge  the  hope  that  some 
of  them  at  least  will  have  the  hearty  approval  of  the  friends  of 
the  College  generally. 

In  collecting  his  materials  the  writer  had  but  little  aid,  with 
the  exception  of  that  given  him  by  one  of  his  friends,  who  is 
unwilling  that  any  mention  should  be  made  of  his  services,  al- 
though to  him  the  writer  is  more  indebted  in  this  matter  than 
to  all  others.  Still,  the  writer  is  under  obligations  to  many  of 
his  friends  for  the  constant  encouragement  they  have  given  him 
to  persevere  in  his  arduous  work, — how  arduous  none  but  those 
who  have  faithfully  and  laboriously  engaged  in  like  under- 
takings can  fully  appreciate;  and  it  is  a  pleasure  for  him  to 
add,  that  to  his  distinguished  successor  in  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  College,  Dr.  McCosh,  the  writer  is  indebted  for  im- 
portant suggestions  as  to  the  plan  of  the  work,  and  for  the 
deep  interest  which  he  has  manifested  in  its  preparation  for 
the  press. 

To  his  friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  Duffield  he  is  under  peculiar 
obligations  for  making  the  requisite  arrangements  for  the  pub- 
lication of  this  work,  all  pecuniary  interest  in  which  the  writer 
has  transferred  to  the  Princeton  Charitable  Institution,  for  the 
aid  of  indigent  and  worthy  youths  engaged  in  seeking  a  liberal 
education. 

To  the  publishers  of  the  work,  also,  the  writer  must  tender 
his  thanks  for  the  careful  and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  they 
have  performed  their  part  in  issuing  it  from  the  press. 

When  he  began  to  gather  materials  for  a  history  of  the  Col- 
lege, the  writer  scarcely  dared  to  hope  that  he  should  be  spared 
to  complete  that  undertaking ;  still,  he  cheerfully  gave  himself 
to  it,  under  the  impression  that  his  labors  in  this  line  might  be 
of  service  in  the  hands  of  another,  in  preparing  a  truthful  ac- 
count of  the  origin,  design,  and  progress  of  the  College.  But 
in  the  kind  providence  of  God  he  has  been  permitted  to  go 
beyond  this,  and  to  bring  to  its  close  a  history  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  from  its  foundation  in  1746  to  the  annual  Com- 
mencement of  1854,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  eight  years ; 


20 


PREFACE. 


and  it  is  his  fervent  prayer  that  this  work  may  help  to  keep  in 
perpetual  remembrance  the  design  of  those  truly  good  and 
great  men  who,  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  College,  sought 
to  erect  an  institution  for  the  advancement  of  piety  and  sound 
learning,  and  one  especially  devoted  to  the  upbuilding  of  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I.  PAGE 

The  Origin  of  the  College .23 

CHAPTER    II. 
The  Design  of  the  College,  and  its  Relations  to  the  Church  and  the  State     .       61 

CHAPTER    III. 
The  Charters  of  1746  and  1748 70 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Memoir  of  Governor  Belcher,  and  Brief  Notices  of  the  Trustees  named  in 

the  Two  Charters  of  the  College 98 

CHAPTER    V. 

The  Administration  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  First  President  of  the 

College;  and  Memoir  of  his  Life 114 

CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Administration  and  Life  of  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  Second  President  of 

the  College 127 

CHAPTER    VII. 

The  Annual  Commencement  of  1757,  and  the  Election  and  Administration 

of  President  Edwards 169 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Third  President  of  the  College          .     178 

CHAPTER    IX. 

The  Interval  between  the  Decease  of  President  Edwards  and  the  Inaugura- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  as  President  of  the  College  .         .         .192 

21 


22  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    X. 

PAGE 

The  Administration  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  Fourth  President  of  the 

College 203 

CHAPTER    XI. 
Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  Fourth  President  of  the  College  .         .     219 

CHAPTER    XII. 

The   Administration  of  the   Rev.   Samuel    Finley,   Fifth    President  of  the 

College 249 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  D.D.,  Fifth  President  of  the  College     .     277 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

The  Interval  between  the  Death  of  Dr.  Finley  and  the  Accession  of  Dr. 

Witherspoon,  from  July  18,  1766,  to  August  17,  1768     ....     285 

CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Administration  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  Sixth  President  of 

the  College  ............     300 

Appendix  to  the  Chapter  on  Dr.  Witherspoon's  Administration     .         .         .     368 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

A  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  John  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Sixth  President  of 

the  College 384 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   ORIGIN    OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

ON  the  occasion  of  his  inauguration  as  President  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1854,  the  writer  of 
this  History  gave  a  brief  outline  of  its  origin  and  design.  In 
this  outline  the  College  was  represented  as  "being  in  fact  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  one  over  which  the  pious  and  learned  Jonathan 
Dickinson  presided,"  and  as  being  established  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Synod  of  New  York ;  which  Synod  at  that  time 
embraced  not  only  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  New  York, 
but  also  the  larger  part  of  those  in  New  Jersey. 

A  more  thorough  examination  has  served  to  confirm  the 
view  then  taken  as  to  the  identity  of  the  College,  under  the  char- 
ter given  in  1746,  by  the  Honorable  John  Hamilton,  President 
of  his  Majesty's  Council ;  and  under  the  one  granted  two  years 
after,  by  his  Excellency  Jonathan  Belcher,  Esq.,  his  Majesty's 
Governor  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey.  But  the  statement 
as  to  the  Synod  was  not  as  exact  as  it  might  have  been.  The 
credit  given  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  belongs  almost  exclu- 
sively to  certain  leading  members  of  that  body,  one  of  whom 
was  the  pastor  of  the  only  Presbyterian  church  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  the  others  pastors  of  Presbyterian  churches  in 
East  Jersey. 

23 


24          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Particular  attention  is  due  to  both  these  matters,  for  the 
reason  that  they  have  been  misapprehended  by  most  of  those 
who  have  undertaken  to  write  or  to  speak  of  them.  At  the 
time  application  was  first  made  to  the  civil  authorities  of  New 
Jersey  for  a  college  charter,  the  state  of  things  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  this  country  was  a  very  peculiar  one,  and  the 
condition  of  the  civil  affairs  of  the  Province  was  also  peculiar. 
In  any  other  circumstances  than  those  which  existed  at  the 
time  the  first  charter  was  obtained,  and  for  a  few  years  after,  it 
is  hardly  probable  that  a  charter,  in  the  name  of  the  King, 
would  have  been  granted  by  the  Governors  and  Council  of 
New  Jersey  for  the  erection  of  a  college  to  be  under  the  con- 
trol of  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  It 
will  therefore  not  be  amiss  to  recite  the  facts  to  which  reference 
is  here  made,  before  entering  upon  a  regular  chronological 
detail  of  the  events  which  properly  constitute  the  history  of 
the  College. 

The  first  efforts  for  the  erection  of  a  college  in  New  Jersey 
have  an  intimate  connection  with  the  first  schism  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  This  schism  began  in  1741,  with  the  separation 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  from  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia. It  was  consummated  in  1745,  by  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York  from  the  same  Synod,  tJien  the 
only  one ;  and  by  the  organization  of  a  new  Synod,  "under 
the  title  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,"  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year. 

At  its  formation  the  Synod  of  New  York  consisted  of  the 
Presbyteries  of  New  York,  New  Brunswick,  and  New  Castle. 
There  was  another  and  older  Presbytery  of  the  name  of  New 
Castle,  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Presbytery  of  New  York  was  formed  in  1738,  by  uniting 
the  Presbyteries  of  Long  Island  and  East  Jersey,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick  was  also  formed  in  1738,  upon  the 
petition  of  some  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  then 
just  constituted,  to  be  erected  into  a  distinct  Presbytery  with 
some  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  The  Presby- 
tery of  New  Castle,  the  second  of  that  name,  was  formed  in 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE   COLLEGE.  25 

1741,  and  it  was  composed  of  members  who  sympathized  with 
their  New  Brunswick  brethren,  and  who  refused  to  remain  any 
longer  in  Presbyteries  connected  with  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia, from  which  these  brethren  had  been  virtually  cut  off  with- 
out any  respect  had  to  the  usual  forms  of  citation  and  trial. 
This  Fresbytery  was  first  known  as  the  Presbytery  of  London- 
derry, but  before  the  Synod  of  New  York  was  organized  it 
took  the  name  of  New  Castle. 

The  schism  above  mentioned  arose  not  from  any  different 
views  in  reference  to  the  Calvinistic  system  of  doctrine  as  set 
forth  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  which  had  been 
adopted  by  the  entire  Synod,  but  chiefly  from  conflicting  opin- 
ions with  respect  to  the  requisites  for  admission  to  the  ministry, 
and  in  regard  to  the  countenance  which  should  be  given  to 
the  religious  excitements  of  that  period,  which  prevailed  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  in  New  England  and  in  the  middle  Prov- 
inces. A  majority  of  the  old  Synod  insisted  upon  a  regular 
training  of  candidates  in  studies  usually  pursued  at  colleges 
or  universities,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  license  and  ordain 
preachers  whose  preliminary  training  had  been  defective,  al- 
though they  might  be  sound  in  the  faith  and  give  evidence  of 
fervent  piety.  The  majority  also  objected  earnestly  to  all  intru- 
sion into  their  congregations,  on  the  part  of  the  revivalists, 
which  some  of  the  New  Brunswick  ministers  and  their  friends 
openly  advocated  and  practised. 

These  differences  in  opinion  and  practice  were  the  occasion 
of  many  sharp  and  bitter  controversies,  which  prepared  the 
way  for  the  rending  asunder  of  the  entire  body. 

The  ministers  and  elders  who  organized  the  Synod  of  New 
York  were  all  of  one  mind  as  to  the  desirableness  of  religious 
revivals,  and  as  to  the  duty  of  doing  all  in  their  power  to  pro- 
mote them  ;  but  they  were  not  equally  prudent  in  the  use  of 
the  requisite  means  for  attaining  their  object,  nor  were  they  all 
agreed  as  to  the  evidences  of  true  conversion.  As  a  body  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  was  more  conservative  than  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick.  And  while  these  tivo  Presbyteries 
were  yet  in  connection  u'it/i  tJie  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  leading 
men  in  them  evidently  differed  in  opinion  as  to  the  provision 
VOL.  i. — 3 


26          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

which  should  be  made  for  the  education  of  candidates  for  the 
holy  ministry.  The  New  Brunswick  men,  several  of  whom 
had  been  trained  at  the  school  established  by  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Tennent,  Sr.,  on  the  southwest  bank  of  the  Neshaminy, 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  who  had  been  greatly  blessed  of  God  in 
their  labors  as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  were  content  with  the 
comparatively  meagre  instruction  in  the  arts  and  sciences  given 
at  that  seminary  of  learning ;  and  they  deemed  the  different 
efforts  made  to  establish  a  school  of  a  higher  order  as  aimed 
against  their  foster-mother  and  school  of  theology.  In  this 
school,  now  well  known  under  the  designation  of  the  "  Log 
College,"  more  account  was  very  properly  made  of  personal 
piety  and  religious  experience,  in  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
than  of  a  complete  knowledge  of  both  their  preparatory  and 
their  professional  studies.  And  it  is  equally  true  that  at  this 
school  the  great  benefits  of  mental  discipline  and  of  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  several  branches  of  philosophy  and  of 
polite  learning  were  not  estim-ated  at  their  full  value. 

The  ministers  of  the  New  York  Presbytery,  most  of  whom 
were  pastors  of  churches  in  East  Jersey  and  residents  in  that 
part  of  the  Province,  were  no  less  ardent  friends  of  revivals 
than  were  their  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick. 
Nor  were  they  less  fully  persuaded  of  the  unspeakable  impor- 
tance of  personal  piety  as  an  element  of  success  in  preaching 
the  gospel.  But  they  did  not  approve  the  course  of  their  New 
Brunswick  brethren  in  reference  to  intrusion,  and  in  the  matter 
of  licensing  candidates.  They  were  also  desirous  that  the  best 
possible  provision  should  be  made  for  the  preparatory  and  pro- 
fessional education  of  all  candidates  for  the  ministry.  Before 
the  schism  they  concurred  with  their  brethren  in  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  in  the  project  of  founding,  for  this  very  purpose, 
a  school  or  seminary  of  learning.  This  is  evident  from  the  fol- 
lowing record  in  the  minutes  of  that  body  at  their  sessions  in 
Philadelphia,  May,  1739,  six  years  before  the  schism  of  1745: 
"An  overture  for  erecting  a  school  or  seminary  of  learning 
being  brought  in  by  the  Committee,  the  Synod  unanimously 
approved  the  design  of  it ;  and  in  order  to  the  accomplishing 
it  did  nominate  Messrs.  Pemberton,  Dickinson,  Cross,  and  An- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 


27 


derson,  two  of  which,  if  they  can  be  prevailed  upon,  to  be  sent 
home  to  Europe  to  prosecute  this  affair  with  proper  directions. 
And  in  order  to  this,  it  is  appointed  that  the  Commission  of 
the  Synod,  with  correspondents  from  every  Presbytery,  meet 
at  Philadelphia  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  August  next.  And 
if  it  should  be  found  necessary  that  Mr.  Pemberton  should  go 
to  Boston,  pursuant  to  this  design,  it  is  ordered  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  supply  his  pulpit  during  his  absence." 

Messrs.  Pemberton  and  Dickinson  were  members  of  the  New 
York  Presbytery,  they  were  leading  men  in  that  body,  they 
were  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod,  they  were  members 
of  the  Committee  which  brought  the  overture  before  the  Synod, 
they  had  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  their  brethren,  both 
of  the  Old  Side  and  of  the  New,  as  the  two  principal  parties 
in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  were  then  called.  Had  they  not 
been  in  favor  of  the  proposed  measure,  they  would  not  have 
been  the  first  persons  named  to  take  so  active  a  part  in  carry- 
ing it  into  effect.  Mr.  Pemberton  was  a  native  of  Boston,  well 
known  and  highly  esteemed  by  the  ministers  and  people  there,, 
and  perhaps  the  most  influential  person  the  Synod  could  have 
selected  to  solicit  aid  in  that  city. 

This  statement  of  the  different  views  entertained  by  the  lead- 
ing men  in  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York  and  New  Brunswick 
is  confirmed  by  what  is  said  in  a  letter,  of  May  30,  1746;. 
addressed  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  to  President  Clap-,, 
of  Yale  College,  and  which  has  reference  to  a  proposed  ar- 
rangement by  which  candidates  for  the  ministry  at  the  school 
established  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  at  New  London, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1744,  might  have  certain  privileges  granted 
to  them  by  Yale  College.  The  writers  of  it  say,  "And  by  his 
[Mr.  Whitefield's]  interest,  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  grew  hardy 
enough  to  tell  our  Synod  that  he  would  oppose  their  design  of 
getting  assistance  to  erect  a  college,  wherever  we  should  make 
application,  and  would  maintain  young  men  at  his  father's 
school  in  opposition  to  us." 

This  must  have  occurred  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  in  1739,  and  the  language  here  attributed  to  Mr. 
Tennent  was  most  probably  used  by  him  before  the  above- 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

mentioned  overture  was  submitted  to  the  Synod ;  for  it  appears 
from  the  minutes  of  1739,  that,  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on 
which  the  design  of  the  overture  was  approved  in  the  afternoon, 
the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  protested  in  behalf  of  himself  and  of 
such  as  would  join  with  him,  viz.,  William  Tennent,  Sr.,  William 
Tennent,  Jr.,  Samuel  Blair,  Eleazar  Wales,  Charles  Tennent,  min- 
isters, Thomas  Worthington,  David  Chambers,  William  McCrea, 
John  Weir,  elders,  against  the  act  respecting  the  trial  of  candi- 
dates. This  act  required  all  candrdates  who  had  not  studied  at 
a  college  or  university  to  be  examined  by  a  committee  of  Synod 
before  being  received  under  the  care  of  any  Presbytery  and 
placed  on  trial  for  license  to  preach  the  gospel.  In  the  debate 
on  this  subject  it  is  highly  probable  that  Mr.  Tennent  gave 
utterance  to  his  feelings  in  no  very  measured  terms,  under  the 
deep  conviction  that  the  resolution  then  under  consideration 
was  aimed  against  his  father's  school  and  was  designed  to  pre- 
vent his  "  training  gracious  men  for  the  ministry."  Words  to 
this  effect  are  also  given  in  the  Synod's  letter  to  President  Clap 
as  having  been  uttered  by  Mr.  Tennent  in  connection  with  his 
protest.  It  is  not  likely,  therefore,  had  Mr.  Tennent  and  his 
friends  been  present  when  the  Synod  expressed  its  approval  of 
the  design  of  the  overture  respecting  the  erection  of  a  school 
.to  be  under  the  care  of  the  Synod,  that  they  would  have  even 
acquiesced  in  a  resolution  approving  that  design.  If,  upon 
presenting  their  protest  against  the  act  in  regard  to  candidates, 
they  retired  and  took  no  further  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Synod,  which  were  then  drawing  to  a  close,  and  which  were 
closed  that  very  day,  we  can  readily  understand  how  it  was 
that  the  design  of  the  overture  was  unanimously  approved,  as 
stated  in  the  record. 

No  member  of  the  New  York  Presbytery  united  with  Mr. 
Tennent  and  his  friends  in  their  protest  at  this  meeting,  or  in 
the  one  presented  by  them  the  following  year,  when  the  Synod 
reaffirmed  their  act  respecting  the  examination  of  candidates 
by  a  committee  of  the  Synod. 

The  plan  of  sending  two  of  their  number  to  Europe  to 
solicit  funds  to  aid  in  the  establishing  of  a  school,  was  given 
up  by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia ;  and  the  reason  for  giving  it 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE    COLLEGE. 


29 


up  may  be  learned  from  the  following  minute  of  the  date  of 
May  29,  1740:  "The  Commission  of  Synod  did  meet  last  year 
according  to  appointment,  in  order  to  conclude  upon  a  method 
for  prosecuting  the  overture  respecting  the  erecting  a  seminary 
of  learning.  The  minutes  of  that  proceeding  were  read,  and 
although  herein  it  is  found  that  they  concluded  upon  calling 
the  whole  Synod  together  as  necessary  in  that  affair,  yet  the 
war  breaking  out  between  England  and  Spain,  the  calling  of 
the  Synod  was  omitted,  and  the  whole  affair  was  laid  aside  for 
that  time."  The  war  here  spoken  of  would  have  rendered  a 
voyage  to  England  far  more  hazardous  to  those  selected  to  go 
abroad,  or,  as  the  phrase  then  was,  to  go  home,  in  order  to 
solicit  funds  for  their  projected  school ;  and  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  the  requisite  aid  would  have  been  greatly  increased. 
The  entire  scheme  was  not  again  resumed. 

Next  year  the  contentions  in  the  Synod  began  to  come  to  a 
head.  The  meeting  was  small.  No  one  from  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York  was  present.  The  members  of  the  Old  Side  party 
were  in  a  majority ;  and  they  availed  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  protest  against  the  members  of  the  New  Brunswick 
Presbytery  being  permitted  "  to  sit  and  vote  as  members  of  the 
Synod."  The  reasons  for  this  remarkable  protest  can  be  seen 
in  full  on  pages  155-158  of  the  printed  minutes.  It  is  suf- 
ficient for  our  purpose  to  know  that  the  protest  led  at  once 
to  the  separation  of  the  New  Brunswick  Presbytery  from  the 
Synod.  Sincere  and  earnest  efforts  to  effect  a  reconciliation 
were  made  the  following  year  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
and  were  continued  until  May,  1745,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 

Failing  to  .bring  the  two  parties  to  such  an  understanding  as 
would  enable  them  to  come  to  an  amicable  adjustment,  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  deemed  it  their  duty  to  withdraw,  and 
to  take  measures  for  the  formation  of  another  and  separate 
Synod.  Both  these  they  did ;  not  because  they  approved  the 
conduct  of  their  New  Brunswick  brethren  in  the  matters  alleged 
against  them,  but  solely  on  the  ground  that  these  brethren  had 
been  irregularly  cut  off  from  the  Synod,  and  denied  their  rights 
as  members  of  that  body.  They  believed  them  to  be  sincere 
and  faithful  servants  of  Christ,  and  men  owned  and  blessed  of 


2o          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

God  in  their  labors ;  yet  they  were  not  blind  to  their  defects. 
And  before  they  united  with  them  in  a  new  Synod,  all  con- 
cerned entered  into  an  engagement  to  abstain  from  denunciations 
of  their  brethren  from  whom  they  differed  in  opinion,  from  all 
divisive  courses,  and  to  retire  peaceably  from  the  new  Synod 
if  they  could  not  conscientiously  submit  to  its  decisions  and 
orders ;  terms  which  would  have  readily  secured  their  speedy 
restoration  to  the  old  Synod,  had  they  been  of  a  mind  to  offer 
or  to  accept  them. 

This  state  of  things  prevented  all  further  united  action  to 
secure  the  erection  of  a  college  or  seminary  of  learning.  Three 
of  the  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
made  provision  for  establishing  a  school  or  academy  as  early  as 
November,  1743,  which  in  May,  1744,  was  taken  under  the  care 
of  the  Synod.  The  plan  of  the  school  was  a  very  liberal  one. 
It  had  a  succession  of  able  teachers,*  and  it  rendered  good 
service  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  learning.  But  in  the  un- 
settled state  of  affairs  then  existing,  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  consisting  almost  wholly  of  ministers  and  churches 
in  East  Jersey,  although  still  in  connection  with  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  could  take  no  part  in  fostering  this  institution. 
It  was  yet  uncertain  whether  the  Presbytery  itself  could  con- 
tinue its  relations  to  the  Synod;  and  until  this  matter  was  de- 

*  The  first  teacher  of  this  school  was  the  Rev.  Francis  Allison,  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  New  London,  Pennsylvania.  He  continued  to  have  charge 
of  the  school  until  his  removal  from  New  London  to  Philadelphia,  in  1752,  at  which 
time  he  became  the  principal  of  a  grammar-school  in  that  city.  This  Philadelphia 
school  was,  in  1755,  erected  into  a  college,  of  which  Mr.  Allison  was  made  vice- 
provost.  The  erection  of  this  college  and  Mr.  Allison's  connection  with  it  seemed 
to  do  away  the  necessity  of  a  school,  of  the  rank  of  a  college,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Synod ;  and  the  Synod's  school  continued  to  be  only  a  preparatory  school  of 
a  high  order.  As  principal  of  the  Synod's  school,  Mr.  Allison  was  succeeded  by 
his  assistant-teacher,  the  Rev.  Alexander  McDowell.  In  1754  the  Rev.  Matthew 
Wilson  was  appointed  teacher  of  languages,  and  Mr.  McDowell  continued  to  give 
instruction  in  logic,  mathematics,  and  in  natural  and  moral  philosophy.  This 
school  was  finally  removed  to  Newark,  Delaware,  and  received  a  charter  from  the 
Proprietaries,  under  the  name  of  the  Newark  Academy. 

In  1756,  Mr.  Allison  received  from  Nassau  Hall  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts, 
and  from  the  University  of  Glasgow  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity,  and  he  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  in  this  country  upon  whom  this 
degree  was  ever  conferred. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE    COLLEGE.  ^l 

termined,  it  was  inexpedient  to  give  their  countenance  and  aid 
to  the  Synod's  school,  or  to  undertake  to  erect  one  to  be  under 
their  own  control,  either  virtually  or  directly.  It  is  therefore 
almost  certain  that  nothing  was  done  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  or  by  any  of  the  leading  members  of  that  body,  towards 
the  erection  of  a  college  or  seminary  of  learning,  until  1745, 
when  the  Presbytery  separated  itself  from  the  Synod,  and 
thereby  consummated  the  first  great  schism  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that,  before  this  took 
place,  Mr.  Dickinson,  in  order  to  meet  present  emergencies, 
established  a  private  school  at  Elizabethtown,  according  to  a 
commonly  received  tradition  to  this  effect.  It  is  known  that 
he  instructed  certain  candidates  for  the  ministry  in  their  theo- 
logical studies.  About  this  time,  also,  Mr.  Burr  had  a  classical 
school  at  Newark. 

After  the  schism,  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pemberton, 
Burr,  and  others  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  unable  to 
unite  with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  sustaining  their  school, 
not  satisfied  with  the  limited  course  of  instruction  given  at  the 
Neshaminy  school,  and  having  become  more  or  less  alienated 
from  the  colleges  of  New  England,  turned  their  thoughts  to 
the  erecting  of  a  college,  in  which  ample  provision  should  be 
made  for  the  intellectual  and  religious  culture  of  youth  de- 
sirous to  obtain  a  liberal  education,  and  more  especially  for 
the  thorough  training  of  such  as  were  candidates  for  the  holy 
ministry.  That  they  might  the  more  effectually  accomplish 
their  purpose,  they  sought  to  obtain  a  charter  for  the  erection 
of  a  college  in  New  Jersey.  In  this  undertaking  they  had  no 
assistance  from  either  Synod ;  and  most  probably  at  that  time 
they  neither  sought  nor  desired  it.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
were  interested  in  the  success  of  their  own  school ;  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick  in  that  of  the  Neshaminy  school. 
The  venerable  founder  of  this  school,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Tennent, 
Sr.,  was  still  living  when  measures  were  taken  to  obtain  the  de- 
sired charter.  His  sons  and  his  pupils  were  the  leading  men 
in  the  Presbyteries  of  New  Brunswick  and-  New  Castle.  His 
eldest  son,  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  in  his  famous  Nottingham 
sermon,  had  openly  expressed  his  preference  for  private  schools 


32          HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

or  seminaries,  under  the  care  of  skilful  and  experienced  Chris- 
tians (see  Dr.  Hodge's  "  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church," 
vol.  ii.  page  154),  "as  the  most  likely  method  to  stock  the 
Church  with  a  faithful  ministry."  The  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  and  ablest  men  trained  at 
the  Log  College,  had  established  at  his  residence  in  Fagg's 
Manor,  Pennsylvania,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  New  Castle 
Presbytery,  a  classical  and  theological  school,  at  which  Presi- 
dent Davies  and  other  prominent  ministers*  of  the  gospel  were 
prepared  for  their  work.  Had  there  been  no  rupture  of  the  old 
Synod,  there  is  every  probability  that  there  would  have  been 
a  hearty  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York  with  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  the  establishment  and 
endowment  of  a  synodical  school.  And  after  the  schism,  had 
the  Log  College  ceased  to  exist  before  the  formation  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York,  it  is  morally  certain  that  the  Synod,  as 
soon  as  it  was  organized,  would  have  promptly  given  their 
countenance  to  the  plan  of  erecting  a  college,  to  be  under  the 
supervision  and  control  of  ministers  and  laymen  whose  church 
relations  were  with  their  own  body.  This  is  almost  evident 
from  the  fact  that,  two  years  after,  upon  an  application  for  an- 
other charter  with  greater  privileges,  the  former  friends  of  the 
Neshaminy  school  became  the  earnest  and  devoted  friends  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey.  But  at  the  juncture  just  men- 
tioned it  so  happened,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  that  the 
work  of  initiating  the  measures  for  the  erection  of  a  college 
and  for  obtaining  a  charter  devolved  almost  exclusively  upon 
the  leading  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  most  of  whom  resided  in  East  Jersey,  and  were  men  of 
high  standing  in  the  community  and  held  in  great  respect  for 
their  wisdom,  learning,  and  piety.  In  the  whole  Synod  there 
were  no  men  so  likely  to  find  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  Gover- 
nor and  of  his  Council,  and  to  obtain  from  them  a  compliance 
with  their  petition. 

Lewis  Morris  was  Governor  of  New  Jersey  during  the  whole 
of  the  excitement  that  led  to  the  rupture  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  he  was  Governor  when  the  first  application  was 

*  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  Dr.  Robert  Smith. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 


33 


made  for  a  college  charter.  His  son  Robert  Hunter  Morris 
was  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Province  during  the  whole  of  his 
administration,  and  for  many  years  after.  Both  of  them  must 
have  been  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  divisions  or  parties  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church ;  and,  although  having  no  particular 
regard  for  any  one  of  these  parties,  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  they  had  a  special  dislike  to  the  one  most  nearly  allied 
in  views,  feelings,  and  style  of  preaching  to  Whitefield  and  his 
admirers.  This  was  the  party  of  the  Tennents,  Blairs,  Row- 
land, Finley,  and  others  of  kindred  spirit,  who  were  members 
of  the  Synod,  but  not  of  the  Presbytery,  of  New  York. 

In  1741  an  attempt  was  made  to  indict  and  convict  the  Rev. 
John  Rowland  for  horse-stealing,  he  having  been  mistaken  for 
a  remarkable  adventurer  of  the  name  of  Bell.  Robert  Hunter 
Morris  presided  at  the  trial,  and  it  is  reported  that  with  great 
severity  he  charged  the  grand  jury  to  find  a  bill  against  Mr. 
Rowland.  After  two  refusals  and  as  many  reproofs,  they  com- 
plied with  the  instructions  given  to  them,  and  found  the  re- 
quired bill.  Whereupon  Mr.  Rowland  was  regularly  tried;  but 
he  was  also  acquitted. 

The  witnesses  for  the  defence  were  the  Rev.  William  Tennent, 
Jr.,  and  Messrs.  Joshua  Anderson  and  Benjamin  Stevens.  By 
the  testimony  of  one  or  more  of  these  witnesses  the  fact  was 
fully  established  that  Mr.  Rowland  was  in  another  Province,  and 
not  in  New  Jersey,  on  the  very  day  on  which  the  theft  was 
committed.  At  the  same  term  of  the  court,  for  an  incorrect 
statement  made  by  Anderson  in  reference  to  another  party 
while  giving  his  testimony  in  this  case,  he  was,  by  order  of  the 
court,  indicted  for  perjury.  It  is  most  probable  that  the  mis- 
take made  by  him  was  due  to  failure  of  memory,  the  matter 
having  reference  to  the  time  and  place  when  and  where  he  saw 
this  other  party. 

At  a  subsequent  term  of  the  court,  Messrs.  Tennent  and 
Stevens  were  also  charged  with  perjury;  and  bills  were  found 
against  them.  Mr.  Tennent  was  tried  and  acquitted.  Mr. 
Stevens  was  not  tried.  It  is  probable  that  a  nolle  proscqui 
was  entered  by  the  Attorney-General,  in  view  of  the  evidence 
adduced  in  Mr.  Tennent's  case. 


34          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Neither  Mr.  Rowland  nor  Mr.  Tennent  owed  anything  to  the 
favor  or  the  indulgence  of  the  court,  which  would  have  had  them 
both  convicted  if  it  had  been  possible.  They  were  both  asso- 
ciated in  the  public  mind  with  the  most  active  and  earnest  of 
the  revival  preachers ;  and  this  whole  class  of  ministers  were 
objects  of  dislike  to  such  men  as  Chief-Justice  Morris  and  his 
father,  Governor  Morris. 

In  an  application  at  this  time  for  a  college  charter,  it  would 
have  been  very  indiscreet  for  any  of  this  class  of  persons  to 
unite  in  the  petition,  even  had  they  been  warmly  in  favor  of  the 
project.  Their  taking  part  in  the  matter  would  have  surely 
resulted  in  a  denial  of  the  request.  But,  for  the  reasons  which 
have  been  given  above,  they  were  not  disposed  at  this  time  to 
take  any  part  in  promoting  this  enterprise,  and  the  leading  men 
in  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  were  left  by  their  brethren  in 
the  other  Presbyteries  to  pursue  their  plan  without  aid  or  inter- 
ference. 

The  petition  for  a  college  charter  was  refused  by  Governor 
Morris,  but  on  what  grounds  is  not  certainly  known.  It  may 
have  been  that  he  doubted  his  authority  to  grant  such  a  charter 
as  was  asked  of  him,  or,  having  no  doubt  as  to  his  power,  he  may 
have  deemed  it  altogether  inexpedient  to  clothe  a  body  of  Dis- 
senters, as  he  regarded  the  petitioners,  with  the  power  and 
privileges  sought  to  be  attained  by  a  charter  for  a  college  to  be 
under  the  exclusive  control  of  Presbyterian  ministers  and  lay- 
men, however  discreet  and  liberal-minded  the  petitioners  them- 
selves might  be.  Governor  Morris  was  Chief  Justice  of  New 
York  when  a  charter  was  refused  once  and  again,  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  that  Province,  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  precedent 
for  granting  corporate  privileges  to  a  body  of  Dissenters.  The 
sole  object  of  the  church  in  seeking  to  obtain  a  charter  was  to 
secure  their  property  more  firmly,  which  was  then  held  in  trust 
by  certain  individual  members  of  the  congregation. 

At  the  time  of  their  second  application,  Governor  Burnet 
was  Governor  of  New  York  as  well  as  of  New  Jersey,  and 
the  Presbyterians  in  New  York  City  had  hope,  from  the  well- 
known  liberal  views  of  his  father,  Bishop  Burnet,  and  from  his 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE    COLLEGE. 


35 


own  professions  of  liberality,  that  he  would  have  given  them 
his  countenance  and  aid;  but  he  did  not.  Upon  a  second  re- 
fusal, both  the  petitioners  and  the  Council  requested  that  the 
petition  might  be  sent  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations, 
in  London,  for  their  decision.  But  the  Governor  did  not  send 
it  until  the  i6th  of  May,  1724,  nearly  four  years  after  he  was 
requested  to  do  so.  Richard  West,  Attorney-General  for  Ire- 
land and  Solicitor-General  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  a  brother- 
in-law  of  Governor  Burnet,  to  whom  the  petition  was  referred, 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  in  the  general  and  abstract  view  of 
the  thing  there  was  nothing  in  the  request  unreasonable  or  im- 
proper. Yet  no  charter  was  obtained  until  after  the  American 
Revolution,  when  one  was  granted  by  the  State  of  New  York. 
Perhaps  one  reason  why  the  Board  of  Trade  did  not  instruct 
Governor  Burnet  and  his  Council  to  give  the  charter  in  ques- 
tion was,  that  Mr.  West  died  in  December  of  that  year, — 1724, 
— and  the  matter  was  lost  sight  of.  Whether  Governor  Morris, 
who  must  have  been  familiar  with  the  proceedings  in  this  case, 
was  influenced  by  this  refusal  of  the  New  York  Council  to  in- 
corporate a  body  of  Dissenters  cannot  now  be  known  ;  but  that 
he  refused  to  grant  a  charter  for  a  college  in  New  Jersey  ap- 
pears from 'a  statement  in  the  supplement  to  the  "Weekly 
Mercury  and  New  York  Gazette"  of  Monday,  the  28th  of  July, 
1755.  That  such  an  application  was  made  and  refused  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  there  was  no  denial  as  to  this  point  in  the 
reply  to  the  supplement,  which  reply  was  evidently  written  by  one 
familiar  with  the  history  of  the  efforts  made  to  obtain  a  charter, 
and  most  probably  by  a  Trustee  of  the  College.  Had  Governor 
Morris  lived,  or  had  he  been  succeeded  by  one  of  like  spirit,  no 
charter  given  in  the  name  of  the  King  could  have  been  obtained 
by  the  petitioners  from  the  Governor  and  Council  of  New  Jer- 
sey. And  from  the  time  that  the  eastern  and  western  divisions 
of  New  Jersey  were  united,  in  1702,  under  the  exclusive  juris- 
diction of  the  Crown,  until  the  death  of  Governor  Morris,  in 
1746,  there  was  probably  no  period  when  a  royal  charter  could 
have  been  obtained  for  the  erection  of  a  school  or  college  by 
a  body  of  Presbyterian  ministers  and  laymen,  or  by  any  class 
of  religionists,  whether  Churchmen  or  Dissenters.  We  might 


36          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

possibly  except  from  this  period  the  years  from  1736  to  1738, 
when  John  Anderson  and  John  Hamilton  were  acting  Gov- 
ernors, at  the  end  of  which  time  Lewis  Morris  received  his 
commission  as  Governor. 

From  the  accession  of  Cornbury,  in  1702,  to  that  of  Morris, 
in  1738,  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  may  to  some  extent  be 
viewed  as  an  appendage  of  New  York,  the  Governor  of  New 
York  being  also  Gove'rnor  of  New  Jersey.  The  Governors 
during  this  period  were  Lord  Cornbury,  Lord  Lovelace,  Robert 
Hunter,  Wm.  Burnet,  John  Montgomerie,  and  Wm.  Cosby. 
Upon  the  death  of  Lord  Lovelace,  Richard  Ingoldsby,  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, had  charge  of  the  government  for  nearly  a 
year.  Upon  his  removal,  Wm.  Pinhorne,  as  senior  Councillor, 
for  a  very  short  time  was  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  New  Jersey. 
Upon  Governor  Hunter's  return  to  England,  Lewis  Morris,  as 
President  of  the  Council,  acted  as  Governor,  and  a  second  time, 
upon  the  death  of  Governor  Montgomerie.  John  Anderson, 
President  of  the  Council,  acted  as  Governor  for  a  few  weeks, 
upon  the  death  of  Governor  Cosby  ;  and  John  Hamilton,  upon 
the  death  of  Anderson.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  acting  Gov- 
ernors here  named  was  limited  to  New  Jersey. 

In  virtue  of  the  concessions  of  Carteret  and  Berkeley,  the  first 
Lords  Proprietors  of  New  Jersey,  to  the  settlers  of  this  Province, 
there  seem  to  have  been  a  greater  freedom  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion and  learning  in  New  Jersey  than  in  New  York,  and  less 
frequent  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Governors  to  enforce  the 
instructions  given  them  by  the  Home  Government.  These  in- 
structions required  the  Governors  of  the  several  Provinces  "  to 
give  all  countenance  and  encouragements  to  the  exercise  of  the 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  as  far  as 
conveniently  might  be  done  in  their  respective  Provinces;"  and 
particularly  directed  that  "  no  schoolmaster  be  hereafter  per- 
mitted to  come  from  this  kingdom,  and  to  keep  school  within 
this  our  said  Province,  without  the  license  of  the  Bishop  of 
London;  and  that  no  other  person  now  here,  or  who  shall  come 
from  other  parts,  shall  be  admitted  to  keep  school  without  your 
license  first  obtained."  "  There  is  reason,"  says  Wm.  Smith, 
the  historian  of  New  York,  "  to  think  that  this  instruction  has 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE    COLLEGE. 


37 


been  continued  from  the  [English]  Revolution  to  the  present 
time  to  the  Governors  of  the  Provinces." 

Bent  upon  exercising  all  the  power  given  to  him,  and  ever 
ready  to  go  beyond  the  spirit  of  his  instructions,  Cornbury,  in 
administering  the  affairs  of  New  York,  "  insisted  that  neither 
ministers  nor  the  schoolmasters  of  the  Dutch,"  the  most  numer- 
ous persons  in  the  Province,  "  had  a  right  to  preach  or  instruct 
within  his  gubernatorial  rule"  (see  Wm.  Smith's  "  History  of 
New  York,"  page  172),  and  this,  notwithstanding  by  the  terms 
of  surrender  the  Dutch  were  not  to  be  molested  or  interfered 
with  in  matters  of  religion, — the  eighth  article  of  the  terms 
being  in  these  words  :  "  The  Dutch  shall  enjoy  their  liberty  of 
conscience  in  Divine  worship  and  Dutch  discipline."  (See 
Samuel  Smith's  "  History  of  New  Jersey,"  page  44.) 

An  avowed  friend  and  supporter  of  the  Church  of  England, 
he  was  an  enemy  to  all  classes  of  ministers  who  faithfully  and 
boldly  preached  the  truth,  and  who  refused  to  submit  to  his 
arbitrary  orders.  Attached  to  the  Church,  not  because  it  was 
the  Church  of  God,  but  because  it  was  the  Church  of  England 
established  by  law,  he  imprisoned  a  truly  excellent  and  devoted 
missionary  of  that  Church,  the  Rev.  Thorowgood  Moore,  for 
denouncing  certain  well-known  and  indecorous  practices  of  his 
Excellency  the  Governor,  and  for  refusing  to  administer  the 
communion  to  Lieutenant- Governor  Ingoldsby  on  account  of 
his  debauchery  and  profaneness.  These  two  worthies,  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  "  par  nobile  fratrum,"  had 
him  arrested  in  New  Jersey  and  brought  to  Amboy;  and  there, 
contrary  to  law,  he  was  forced  by  their  order  into  a  barge, 
taken  to  New  York,  and  committed  to  the  custody  of  a  guard 
at  the  fort.  After  a  confinement  of  three  weeks,  he  escaped,  and, 
in  company  with  the  Rev.  John  Brooks,  another  minister  of 
the  Church  of  England,  a  man  of  kindred  spirit,  and  who  had 
reason  to  apprehend  like  treatment  (see  S.  Smith's  "  History 
of  New  Jersey,"  page  333),  he  went  to  Marblehead,  Massachu- 
setts, where  they  took  passage  for  England,  intending  to  make 
known  to  the  authorities  there  the  situation  of  affairs  here. 
Unhappily,  the  vessel  was  lost  at  sea,  and  all  on  board  perished. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Talbot,  a  well-known  minister  of  the  English 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Church,  said  of  these  good  men,  that  they  were  "  the  most 
pious  and  industrious  missionaries  the  Honorable  Society  ever 
sent  over."  (See  Hatfield's  "  History  of  Elizabethtown.") 

Another  instance  of  Lord  Cornbury's  tyranny  is  seen  in  his 
treatment  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Makemie  and  the  Rev.  John 
Hampton,  two  Presbyterian  ministers,  who,  on  their  way  to 
Boston  from  their  homes  on  the  Eastern  Shores  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  stopped  in  New  York,  and  there  preached  without 
his  Lordship's  license,  one  in  a  private  house  in  the  city,  and 
the  other  on  Long  Island.  He  caused  them  to  be  arrested  and 
brought  before  him,  and  ordered  them  to  be  confined.  Mr. 
Makemie  was  indicted  and  tried  ;  and  when  acquitted  by  the 
jury,  he  was  required  by  the  court  to  pay  the  costs  of  trial. 
In  a  letter  dated  October  14,  1706,  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  his 
Lordship  gives  his  account  of  the  matter,  and  confirms  what  is 
here  said  of  his  treatment  of  these  men :  he  excuses  his  treat- 
ment of  them  on  the  ground  that  they  were  strolling  preachers, 
and  disposed  to  bid  defiance  to  the  government.  Mr.  Makemie 
was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  the  first  Presbyterian  minister  ever 
settled  in  America  as  a  pastor. 

In  the  very  first  year  that  Cornbury  entered  upon  the  admin- 
istration of  affairs  in  New  York,  he  and  certain  of  his  officials 
were  guilty  of  great  oppression  and  gross  cruelty,  in  seizing 
and  imprisoning  Samuel  Bownas,  a  preacher  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  for  preaching  at  a  private  house  in  Hempstead,  Long 
Island,  and  speaking  in  disparaging  terms  of  the  Church  of 
England,  in  relation  to  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  He  was 
confined  in  a  room  which  two  years  before  had  been  protested 
against  as  an  unlawful  prison.  His  friends  were  denied  admit- 
tance; and,  that  he  might  be  chargeable  to  no  man,  he  learned 
to  make  shoes,  and  earned  his  food.  The  grand  jury  refusing 
to  find  a  bill  against  him,  he  was  released,  having  been  in  prison 
nearly  a  whole  year.  This  act  of  seizing  and  imprisoning  Bow- 
nas is  said  to  have  been  done  by  Cornbury  at  the  instigation  of 
two  men  who  had  been  Quakers,  but  who  had  renounced  their 
faith  and  had  turned  Churchmen.  One  of  these  was  the  Rev. 
George  Keith,  who  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  a  bitter  opponent  of  all  non-conformists. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE   COLLEGE. 


39 


These  are  a  few  of  the  things  which  made  Cornbury  so 
odious  to  the  people  in  both  Provinces,  and  which  contributed 
to  his  downfall.  His  successors  in  office  were  men  of  higher 
and  nobler  aims ;  and  yet  some  of  these  found  it  expedient  not 
to  bring  upon  themselves  the  hostility  of  the  more  earnest  par- 
tisans of  the  Church  of  England. 

Lord  Lovelace,  the  immediate  successor  of  Cornbury,  was 
greatly  respected  for  his  upright  administration  of  affairs, 
which,  however,  in  consequence  of  his  decease,  was  of  short 
duration.  Had  he,  or  any  of  his  successors,  ventured  to  grant 
an  act  of  incorporation  to  the  members  of  any  dissenting  body, 
it  might  and  probably  would  have  been  a  ground  of  complaint 
against  them,  that  they  had  disregarded  their  instructions.  As 
it  was,  Governor  Hunter,  one  of  the  most  liberal-minded  and 
popular  of  these  Governors,  was  complained  of  for  his  lack  of 
zeal  in  behalf  of  the  Church.  Against  this  charge  he  found  it 
necessary  to  defend  himself;  and  his  friend  Lewis  Morris,  then 
Chief  Justice  of  New  York,  united  with  him  in  defending  his 
official  conduct.  To  show  that  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his 
duty,  Governor  Hunter  furnished  to  the  Government  officials  in 
England  evidence  of  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  Church  in  both 
the  Provinces  of  which  he  was  Governor ;  and  in  the  following 
terms  he  made  a  solemn  protestation  of  his  devotion  "  to  the 
true  interests  of  our  Holy  Mother,  in  whose  communion,  ever 
since  I  was  capable  of  sober  thoughts,  I  have  lived,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  I  am  resolved  to  die."  (See  Whitehead's  "  Con- 
tributions," etc.,  page  153.)  At  the  same  time  the  Governor  did 
not  hesitate  to  speak  his  mind  very  freely  in  regard  to  some  of 
his  clerical  opponents.  Under  the  date  of  October  10,  1711, 
writing  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  he  says,  "  It  is  reported  that 
the  Bishop  of  London  has  appointed  Rev.  Mr.  Vesey  as  his 
commissary  for  New  York.  Governor  Hunter  hopes  that  Mr. 
Talbot  will  be  appointed  his  Lordship's  commissary  for  New 
Jersey,  and  Mr.  Phillips  for  Pennsylvania :  though  I  know  no 
good  tliey  have  ever  done,  I  know  no  great  harm  they  can  do  at 
present"  (See  Whitehead's  "  Contributions.") 

Governor  Burnet,  the  immediate  successor  of  Governor 
Hunter,  interpreted  his  instructions  as  giving  him  authority  to 


4Q          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

judge  of  the  qualifications  of  ministers,  even  of  those  licensed 
by  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  complaint  was  made  against  him 
for  his  conduct  in  this  matter,  as  appears  from  a  letter  addressed 
to  him  by  his  brother-in-law,  Richard  West,  Solicitor-General 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  who,  in  writing  to  the  Governor  in 
regard  to  the  complaint  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  that  clergy- 
men licensed  by  him  were  subjected  by  the  Governor  to  a 
second  examination,  says,  "  Your  method  is  to  present  him  a 
text,  and  give  him.  a  Bible,  then  lock  him  up  in  a  room  by 
himself,  and  then  in  case  he  does  not  produce,  in  a  given  time, 
a  satisfactory  sermon,  you  refuse  to  license  him.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  the  man  must  starve.  I  have  seen  many  com- 
plaints against  Governors,  and  no  one  was  surprised.  You  are 
surely  the  first  who  ever  brought  himself  into  difficulties  by 
an  inordinate  care  of  souls'''  (See  Whitehead's  "  Contributions.") 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  a  Governor  who  was  so 
watchful  of  the  spiritual  instruction  given  to  the  members  of 
his  quasi  established  Church  would  be  anxious  to  aid  in  build- 
ing up  churches  of  other  denominations,  either  by  granting 
them  corporate  privileges,  or  by  giving  them  charters  for  the 
erection  of  schools  and  colleges.  Aware,  no  doubt,  of  the 
difficulties  of  his  predecessor  arising  from  his  liberal  treatment 
of  non-conformists  in  the  matter  of  civil  appointments,  he  was 
not  disposed  to  bring  upon  himself  the  like  charge  of  being 
neglectful  of  his  duty  to  the  Church,  or  of  being  too  indulgent 
to  Dissenters.  And  this  will  account  for  his  conduct  in  the 
matter  of  a  charter  for  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  New 
York,  of  which  mention  has  been  made  above. 

Of  the  views  and  feelings  of  Governors  Montgomerie  and 
Cosby  in  regard  to  the  granting  of  charters  upon  the  petition 
of  Dissenters,  nothing  particular  is  known;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe,  from  anything  that  is  recorded  of  their  re- 
spective administrations,  that  in  the  matter  named  they  would 
have  pursued  a  different  course  from  that  marked  out  by  their 
predecessors  in  office. 

On  the  2Oth  of  April,  1730,  while  Mr.  Montgomerie  was 
Governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  there  was  passed  at 
St.  James  an  Order  of  Council,  approving  the  instructions  sent 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE    COLLEGE.  ^ 

to  all  the  Governors  in  America  (except  of  the  Leeward  Islands, 
New  England,  North  and  South  Carolina),  directing  them  to 
"support  the  Bishop  of  London  and  his  commissaries  in  the 
exercise  of  such  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  as  is  granted  to  them." 
And  this  included  the  licensing  of  schoolmasters  as  well  as  of 
preachers. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Cosby  occurred  the 
famous  trial  of  John  Peter  Zenger,  printer  of  the  "  New  York 
Journal,"  for  a  libel  against  the  English  Government  and  the 
Governor  of  New  York.  The  trial  involved  the  question 
whether  or  no  there  was  freedom  for  the  press  in  the  Province 
of  New  York.  There  was  intense  feeling  on  the  subject ;  and 
for  denying  the  competency  of  the  court  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  case,  Messrs.  Alexander  and  William  Smith,  the  two  most 
eminent  lawyers  of  New  York,  who  had  offered  to  defend 
Zenger,  were  excluded  from  further  practice  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  their  names  were  stricken  from  the  roll  of  attorneys; 
nor  were  they  restored  until  after  the  death  of  Cosby,  in  1736. 
Andrew  Hamilton,*  a  famous  lawyer  from  Philadelphia,  and 
rendered  still  more  famous  by  his  efforts  and  success  in  this 
trial,  engaged  in  the  defence,  and  obtained  a  verdict  for  his 
client,  by  which  it  was  established  that  the  jury  are  to  decide 
not  only  that  a  paper  alleged  to  be  seditious  was  published  by 
the  party  accused,  but  also  whether  it  is  of  a  libellous  or  sedi- 
tious character.  It  is  mentioned  as  a  remark  of  the  late  Gou- 
verneur  Morris,  that  "the  trial  of  Zenger,  in  1735,  was  the  germ 
of  American  freedom. "f  Governor  Cosby  was  evidently  no 
friend  to  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  and  most  prob- 
ably no  patron  of  learning. 

Richard  Ingoldsby,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  under  Corn- 
bury,  and  who,  before  the  arrival  of  Lord  Lovelace,  administered 
the  affairs  of  the  Province,  was  a  man  of  like  views  and  spirit 
with  Cornbury.  Lewis  Morris,  in  virtue  of  his  office  as  Presi- 
dent of  its  Council,  was  twice  acting  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
— first  from  the  summer  of  1719  to  the  summer  of  1720,  and 

*  A  different  person  and  of  a  different  family  from  Governor  Andrew  Hamilton, 
f  The  Forum  of  Philadelphia,  by  David  Paul  Brown. 
VOL.  I. — 4 


42          HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

again  from  July  I,  1731,  upon  the  death  of  Governor  Mont- 
gomerie,  to  the  arrival  of  Governor  Cosby,  in  1732.  Governor 
Cosby  dying  upon  the  loth  of  March,  1736,  John  Anderson, 
President  of  the  Council  for  New  Jersey,  administered  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  Province  until  his  own  death,  which  occurred 
between  two  and  three  weeks  after  he  became  the  acting  Gov- 
ernor. He  was  admitted  to  the  Council  by  Governor  Hunter, 
who,  in  his  report  of  the  matter  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  apolo- 
gized for  displacing  an  unworthy  Churchman  and  substituting 
in  his  room  a  worthy  Dissenter.  He  was  "a  gentleman  of  the 
strictest  honor  and  integrity,  justly  valued  and  lamented  by  all 
his  acquaintance."  He  was  a  brother  of  the  Rev.  James  Ander- 
son, pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  He  was  succeeded  by  John  Hamilton,  the  next  senior 
Councillor,  who  discharged  the  duties  of  the  Governor  until 
the  accession  of  Lewis  Morris  as  Governor,  in  1738.  As  early 
as  1699,  Morris  was  made  President  of  the  Council  by  Gov- 
ernor Andrew  Hamilton ;  and,  with  a  few  short  intermissions, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Council  until  he  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor. He  was  active  and  influential  in  bringing  about  the 
surrender  of  the  Proprietary  Governments  in  East  and  West 
Jersey,  and  for  this  service  he  was  named  at  that  time  by  the 
Lords  of  Trade  for  the  post  of  Governor ;  but  Viscount  Corn- 
bury,  son  of  the  second  Earl  of  Clarendon,  and  a  cousin  of 
Queen  Anne,  received  the  commission.  Morris  was  twice  sus- 
pended from  the  Council  by  Cornbury,  on  account  of  his  stren- 
uous opposition  to  his  Lordship's  administration.  But  in  what- 
ever else  they  disagreed,  they  were  both  professedly  earnest 
supporters  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  is  related  of  Morris 
that  he  made  the  suggestion  "  that  the  Venerable  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  should  see  to  it  that 
only  Churchmen  should  be  sent  as  Governors  of  the  Colonies; 
and  that  no  person  should  be  competent  to  receive  a  consider- 
able benefice  in  England  who  had  not  performed  three  years 
of  missionary  service  in  America."  (See  Webster's  "  History," 
page  8 1.)  His  zeal  for  Episcopacy  must,  however,  have  greatly 
abated  before  his  death,  for  in  his  last  Will  and  Testament,  a 
remarkable  document,  these  words  occur:  "I  forbid  .  .  .  any 


THE    O RIG  IX   OF   THE    COLLEGE. 


43 


man  to  be  paid  for  preaching  a  funeral  sermon  over  me. 
Those  who  survive  me  will  commend  or  blame  my  conduct  in 
life  as  they  think  fit,  and  I  am  not  for  paying  any  man  for  doing 
either;  but  if  any  man,  whether  Churchman  or  Dissenter,  in 
or  not  in  priest's  orders,  is  inclined  to  say  anything  on  that  oc- 
casion, he  may,  if  my  executors  see  fit  to  admit  him  to  do  it." 

In  view  of  these  passages,  it  can  occasion  no  surprise  that 
he  refused  to  give  a  charter  to  an  institution  to  be  erected  and 
controlled  by  a  body  of  Presbyterians,  with  a  special  reference 
to  the  training  of  young  men  for  the  holy  ministry. 

But  whatever  were  his  errors  or  feelings,  it  is  due  to  him  to 
say,  that  in  the  course  of  his  long  public  career  of  more  than 
fifty  years,  and  embracing  within  its  limits  the  entire  period 
from  the  formation  of  the  first  Presbytery  to  the  schism  of  1745, 
he  rendered  several  very  important  services  to  New  Jersey,  and 
indirectly  to  the  interests  of  religion,  learning,  and  civil  liberty. 
He  probably  did  more  than  any  other  one  man  towards  effect- 
ing the  overthrow  of  the  Proprietary  Government  in  the  eastern 
and  western  divisions  of  the  Province,  and  the  consequent  union 
of  these  two  divisions  under  the  sole  jurisdiction  of  the  Crown. 
He  was  also  instrumental  in  securing  for  New  Jersey  a  Governor 
separate  from  the  Governor  of  New  York.  The  first  of  these 
measures  contributed  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  whole 
Province ;  and  without  it  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  all- 
probability,  would  never  have  been  established  upon  its  present 
basis.  There  might  have  been  an  East  Jersey  College,  but  not 
a  College  of  New  Jersey.  And  had  the  Colonial  governments. 
of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  continued  under  one  head,  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  as  has  already  been  said,  that  no  corporate 
privileges  would  have  been  granted  to  any  body  of  Dissenters, 
as  all  persons  who  were  not  of  the  Church  of  England  were 
then  wont  to  be  called.  And  in  this  matter  the  friends  of  that 
Church  were  in  all  probability  no  more  unreasonable  than  the 
Dissenters  themselves  would  have  been,  had  their  respective 
conditions  been  reversed.  It  was  reserved  for  those  not  con- 
nected with  established  churches  to  be  liberal-minded,  and. 
regardful  of  the  rights  of  others. 

In  a  matter  of  controversy  between  the  Presbyterians  and 


44          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Episcopalians  of  Jamaica,  brought  before  him  when  he  was 
Chief  Justice  of  New  York,  he  did  not  permit  his  preference  for 
the  Church  of  England  to  influence  his  decisions,  but  acted  the 
part  of  an  independent  and  upright  judge. 

Another  thing  for  which  Governor  Morris  is  to  be  greatly 
commended  was  his  earnest  opposition  to  the  tyrannical  meas- 
ures of  Governor  Cornbury; — also  for  his  persistent  and  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  have  his  Lordship  removed  from  an  office  for 
which  he  was  utterly  unfit. 

Governor  Morris  died  in  May,  1746,  and  upon  his  death  the 
government  again  devolved  upon  John  Hamilton,  Esq.,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council.  He  was  the  son  of  Andrew  Hamilton, 
Governor  of  East  and  of  West  Jersey,  under  the  Proprietors, 
from  1692  to  1702,  and  for  some  years  also  Deputy-Governor 
of  Pennsylvania.  Andrew  Hamilton  was  a  native  of  Scotland, 
and  removed  with  his  family  to  this  country  in  1686.  Both 
father  and  son  were  intelligent  and  liberal-minded  men,  and 
popular  Governors.  The  first  and  for  many  years  the  only  laws 
for  the  establishing  and  supporting  of  public  schools  in  East 
Jersey  were  passed  while  Andrew  Hamilton  was  Governor  of 
the  Province.  For  some  years  before  the  surrender  of  the 
government  he  was  Postmaster-General  for  the  Provinces  of 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  (See  "  East  Jersey  under  the 
Proprietary  Governments,"  page  229.) 

When,  in  1746,  John  Hamilton  assumed  a  second  time  the 
administration  of  affairs,  as  President  of  the  Council  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief,  the  petitioners  for  a  college  charter  renewed 
their  request,  and  prepared  the  form  of  a  charter  which  they 
desired  to  have  granted  to  them.  It  was  granted,  and  thus  the 
way  was  prepared  for  laying  the  foundations  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  this  is  the  first  college  charter  ever 
granted  in  this  country  by  a  Governor,  or  acting  Governor,  with 
simply  the  consent  of  his  Council.  That  of  Harvard  was  granted 
by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  the  consent  of 
the  Governor;  that  of  Yale,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Con- 
necticut; that  of  William  and  Mary,  by  their  Majesties  of  those 
names. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE    COLLEGE. 


45 


The  first  Legislative  Assembly  ever  convened  in  America 
was  that  of  Virginia,  in  1619,  and  the  first  attempt  to  establish 
a  college  in  this  country  was  made  by  this  Assembly.  And 
although  nothing  resulted  from  their  action,  for  the  erection 
and  support  of  a  college,  it  is  nevertheless  highly  creditable  to 
their  discernment  and  good  sense,  that  the  members  of  this 
body  should  have  directed  their  attention  to  a  matter  of  this 
kind  at  the  very  beginning  of  their  legislative  career,  and  almost 
at  the  very  foundation  of  their  colony. 

Mr.  Hamilton  was  the  first  Governor  who  ventured  to  act  in 
a  matter  of  this  kind  without  previously  obtaining  either  the 
consent  of  the  Provincial  Legislature  or  the  special  permission 
of  his  Majesty's  Home  Government.  Governor  Belcher  fol- 
lowed the  example  set  him  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  at  a  later 
period  Governor  Franklin  did  the  same,  in  granting  to  sundry 
ministers  and  laymen  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  a  charter 
for  Queen's  College,  now  Rutgers.  Governor  Bernard,  the 
successor  of  Governor  Belcher,  and  afterwards  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, claimed  the  right,  as  the  representative  of  the  King, 
to  grant  charters  for  schools  and  colleges  without  any  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  or  of  the  General  Court ;  and  a  char- 
ter for  the  erection  of  a  college,  or  collegiate  school,  in  Hamp- 
shire County,  Massachusetts,  was  actually  prepared  and  signed 
by  him :  but  in  consequence  of  an  earnest  remonstrance  from 
the  Overseers  of  Harvard  the  Governor  did  not  issue  the  char- 
ter. His  right  to  grant  such  a  charter  was  questioned  by 
the  Overseers,  although  in  their  representations  to  the  Governor 
they  did  not  press  this  point.  Some  few  at  least  were  of  the 
opinion,  and  in  private  gave  utterance  to  it,  that,  in  the  charter 
given  to  the  Province  itself,  the  King  had  relinquished  his  own 
right  to  interfere  in  such  matters.  (See  President  Quincy's 
"  History  of  Harvard,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  477-479.) 

In  1754,  Lieutenant-Governor  De  Lancey,  then  administering 
the  government  of  New  York,  with  the  consent  of  the  Council, 
gave  to  King's  College  a  charter,  which  was  afterwards  con- 
firmed by  a  vote  of  the  Assembly  of  that  Province.  This  ap- 
proval by  the  Assembly  was  probably  obtained  by  the  Trustees 
of  the  College  in  consequence  of  the  objections  made  to  its 


46          HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

establishment  under  a  charter  given  by  the  acting  Governor,  in 
the  name  of  the  King,  and  in  order  to  remove  all  doubts  as  to 
the  validity  of  the  charter  to  which  these  objections  may  have 
given  rise. 

The  Proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  claimed  and 
exercised  the  right  to  grant  charters  for  academies  and  colleges. 

The  prerogative  of  the  King  in  this  matter  was  sedulously 
maintained ;  and  it  was  never  in  any  case  openly  called  into 
question :  but  there  was  no  little  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the 
respective  rights  of  Governors  and  of  Assemblies  in  reference  to 
the  granting  of  charters. 

Joseph  Dudley,  who  was  Governor  of  Massachusetts  from 
1703  to  1715,  has  been  highly  commended,  and  very  justly,  for 
his  boldness  in  consenting  to  a  resolution  to  revive  the  charter 
given  to  Harvard  in  1650  by  the  General  Court  of  that  Province, 
and  "  thus  establishing  a  charter  without,  and  contrary  to,  the 
will  of  the  British  sovereign,"  and  that  after  the  consent  of  the 
Crown  had  been  withheld  from  several  successive  charters 
granted  by  the  provincial  authorities  between  the  years  1692 
and  1701.  The  resolution  referred  to  was  passed  by  the  Council 
and  by  the  House  of  Representatives  in  December,  1707,  and 
it  is  believed  that  it  was  suggested  as  well  as  officially  approved 
by  him.  (See  President  Quincy's  "  History,"  pages  159-161.) 

John  Hamilton,  the  acting  Governor  of  New  Jersey  in  1746, 
should  be  held  in  no  less  honor,  at  least  by  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  for  his  wise  and  liberal  treatment  of  the  founders  of  this 
College,  in  granting  to  them  a  charter  with  ample  privileges, 
and  that  too  in  the  absence  of  all  precedent  in  matters  of  this 
kind,  and  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  his  prede- 
cessor in  office  had  refused  to  give  them  such  a  charter.  His 
liberality  is  the  more  conspicuous  from  the  fact  that  the  peti- 
tioners for  the  charter  were  Presbyterians,  and  that  he  himself 
was  a  Churchman. 

Just  at  this  time  there  were  in  the  condition  of  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  Province  several  things  very  favorable  to  the  suc- 
cess of  those  who  were  anxious  to  obtain  a  charter  for  their 
projected  institution : 

I.  The  acting  Governor  was  a  man  of  enlightened  views,  and 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 


47 


friendly  to  the  interests  of  religion  and  learning;  a  member 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  not  unmindful  of  the  rights  of 
those  who  were  members  of  other  Christian  churches. 

2.  Several  members  of  the  Council  were  Presbyterians:  for 
instance,  John  Reading,  the  next  senior  Councillor  to  President 
Hamilton,  and  his   immediate  successor  as   President  of  the 
Council;  James  Hude,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  the  son  of  a 
Presbyterian  elder  who   emigrated  to  this  country  to  escape 
persecution  in  his  own ;  and  Thomas  Leonard,  of  Princeton. 
Andrew  Johnston,  another  member  of  the  Council,  was  an 
Episcopalian,  a  gentleman  of  liberal  views,  and  cordially  in 
favor  of  the  proposed  scheme  for  the  erecting  of  a  college. 
His  father,  Dr.  Johnston,  was  bail  for  the  Rev.  Francis  Makemie 
when  he  was  arrested,  imprisoned,  and  prosecuted  by  order  of 
Lord  Cornbury.     Dr.  Johnston  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
came  to  America  in  1685.     His  son  Andrew  was  born  in  1694. 
These  four  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Reading,  Hude,  Leonard,  and 
Johnston,  were  all  named  as  Trustees  of  the   College  in  the 
second  charter  given,  in   1748,  by  Governor  Belcher.     James 
Alexander,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  an  eminent  lawyer 
in  New  York,  was  also  a  member  of  the  Council,  and,  from  a 
liberal  gift  made  by  him  to  the  College  a  few  years  after,  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  too  was  favorable  to  the  wishes 
of  the  petitioners. 

3.  In  East  Jersey,  where  most  of  the  petitioners  for  a  college 
charter  resided,  the  people  were  divided  into  two  parties,  which 
were  known  as  the  Scotch  and  the  English.     This  distinction 
had  existed  for  a  long  time.    In  a  letter  of  the  date  of  June 
16,  1703,  addressed  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  by  Colonel  Quarry, 
who  held  at  one  time  the  position  of  a  member  of  Council  in 
five  different  Provinces,  and  who  was  Judge  of  the  Admiralty 
Court  in  New  York  and  also  in  Pennsylvania,  the  writer  says, 
"  The  contest  in  West  Jersey  was  always  between  the  Quakers 
and  those  who  were  not  Quakers;  in  East  Jersey  between  the 
Scotch  and  the  English, — the  Scotch  for  many  years  had  the 
advantage  of  having  a  Scotch   Governor,  Colonel   [Andrew] 
Hamilton."     The    Presbyterian    churches    in  this    country  all 
adopted  the  Doctrine  and  the  Discipline  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 


48       HISTORY  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

land ;  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City  was 
known  as  the  Scotch  Church.  This  in  a  measure  may  account 
for  the  interest  taken  in  the  plan  for  a  Presbyterian  college, 
both  by  President  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Johnston.  They  doubt- 
less thought  that  in  this  land  the  adherents  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  were  entitled  to  equal  favors  and  privileges  with  the 
adherents  of  the  Church  of  England.  And  in  the  case  of 
President  Hamilton,  the  fact  that  the  partisans  of  the  English 
faction  had  for  a  time  deprived  his  father  of  his  office  as  Gov- 
ernor, on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  Scotchman  and  not  an 
Englishman,  and  the  refusal  to  grant  the  Scotch  Church  in 
New  York  their  petition  for  a  charter,  no  doubt  rendered  him 
all  the  more  disposed  to  grant  to  Presbyterians  those  privi- 
leges for  which  they  could  rightfully  ask,  and  which  he  could 
lawfully  bestow.* 

4.  The  relations  between  Governor  Morris,  who  had  refused 
to  give  the  sought-for  college  charter,  and  President  Hamilton, 
who  did  give  it,  were  not  of  the  most  pleasant  kind.  Upon  his 
return  from  England,  and  before  he  received  his  commission  as 
Governor,  Morris  demanded  of  Hamilton  that  he  should  sur- 
render to  him  the  seals  of  the  Province,  which  Hamilton  refused 
to  do,  on  the  ground  that  Morris  had  forfeited  his  right  to  ad- 
minister the  government  by  his  absence  from  the  country;  and 
in  this  Hamilton  was  sustained  by  the  Home  Government.  A 
year  or  two  after,  when  Morris  received  his  Majesty's  commis- 
sion, he  declared  it  to  be  his  purpose  to  regard  all  previous 
difficulties  as  bygones ;  and  yet  he  claimed  from  Hamilton  all 
the  moneys  which  Hamilton  had  received  for  discharging  the 
duties  of  Governor,  on  the  ground  that  he,  and  not  Hamilton, 
was  the  legal  President  of  the  Council  during  that  time.  More- 
over, although  Mr.  Hamilton  was  the  second  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Province,  Governor  Morris  made  his 

*  Another  instance  of  this  national  feeling  is  to  be  seen  in  the  conduct  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  Gooch,  of  Virginia.  Sundry  gentlemen  were  brought  before  him, 
in  1742,  for  attending  unauthorized  religious  meetings.  As  soon  as  he  learned 
that  they  held  to  the  doctrinal  views  and  the  system  of  church  order  set  forth  in 
the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  he  said  that  these  gentlemen  "  were  Presbyte- 
rians according  to  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  and  could  not  be  molested." 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 


49 


son,  Robert  Hunter  Morris,  Chief  Justice,  who,  as  compared 
with  Mr.  Hamilton,  was  a  mere  youth ;  and  the  letter  of  Gov- 
ernor Morris  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  which  informed  the  Board 
that  he  had  made  his  own  son  Chief  Justice,  also  made  mention 
of  Mr.  Hamilton's  resignation  as  Judge. 

In  an  attack  made  in  1755  upon  the  petitioners  for  the  Col- 
lege charter,  which  passed  the  seal  of  the  Province  in  1746 
attested  by  President  Hamilton,  it  is  asserted  that  he  was  in- 
competent, from  age  and  infirmity,  to  discharge  properly  the 
duties  of  Governor,  and  that  the  petitioners  availed  themselves 
of  his  infirm  health  to  obtain  from  him  a  charter,  which,  had  he 
been  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties,  he  would  never  have 
granted.  The  paper  containing  this  assault  affords  evidence 
that  the  information  of  the  writer  was  probably  derived,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  Chief-Justice  R.  H.  Morris.  That 
this  gentleman  was  no  friend  to  the  College  appears  from  an 
expression  in  a  letter  of  Governor  Belcher's,  of  the  date  of  Jan- 
uary 8,  1749-50,  to  Mr.  Walley,  of  London,  in  which  the  Gov- 
ernor, alluding  to  the  Chief  Justice,  speaks  of  "the  malevolence 
of  a  young  gentleman,  lately  gone  from  New  Jersey,  towards 
the  Province  and  the  College." 

The  statement  made  by  the  writer  of  the  paper  to  which 
reference  is  here  made  is  as  follows  (taken  from  the  supple- 
ment to  the  "  New  York  Mercury"  of  July  28,  1755,  No.  155) : 

"  I  have  been  curious  enough  to  inquire  what  methods  were  taken  to  obtain  this 
charter,  and,  by  the  best  information  I  can  get,  was  told  that  it  was  done  in  a  public 
manner,  by  petition,  and  passed  the  seal  in  same  legal  manner  that  other  grants  of 
the  King  do.  The  reasons  of  my  being  so  particular  in  my  inquiries  of  this  kind 
were,  that  I  would  endeavor  to  compare  the  legality  of  one  grant  with  the  legality 
of  another  of  the  same  nature.  What  I  mean  is,  the  grant  of  the  charter  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey.  There  the  Presbyterians,  Independents,  and  the  New 
Lights,  for  I  speak  of  them  as  one  body,  and  they  are  all  of  a  kidney,  I  am  told 
made  their  application  to  the  late  Governor  Morris  for  a  charter.  He  told  them 
that  he  could  not  grant  such  a  charter.  He  soon  after  dying,  the  Government  de- 
volved upon  the  Honorable  John  Hamilton,  Esq.,  whose  age  and  infirmity  had  ren- 
dered him  unequal  to  the  task.  This  they  thought  the  proper  time  to  get  what 
they  wanted ;  accordingly  they  applied  again,  and  a  draft  of  the  charter  was  laid 
before  Mr.  Hamilton  in  Council ;  and  the  petitioners  were  ordered  to  lay  a  draft 
of  it  before  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Province  for  his  opinion,  whether  it  was  legal 
to  grant  it  or  not ;  but  they,  well  convinced  of  the  illegality  of  it  before  the 


50          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Chief  Justice  had  time  to  give  his  opinion,  prepared  an  engrossed  draft  on  parch- 
ment, and  got  the  Governor  (by  the  help  of  some  about  him),  whom  they  had 
properly  prepared  on  the  occasion,  to  pass  the  charter,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
unable  to  read,  and  scarcely  able  to  sign  his  name. 

"  Now,  as  I  am  no  lawyer,  I  would  beg  leave  to  ask,  whether  an  instance  can  be 
found  in  the  law  books  that  a  petition  to  his  Majesty  for  any  grant  or  charter,  and 
that  petition  referred  to  the  Attorney-  or  Solicitor-General,  or  to  the  Judges,  for 
their  opinion,  whether  he  ought  to  grant  the  prayer  or  petition,  any  grant  or  charter 
was  ever  granted  by  the  King  before  such  opinion  was  given.  I  have  been  in- 
formed that  some  of  those  gentlemen  (whose  cunning  and  deceit  equal  the  society 
founded  by  Loyola),  because  the  Judge  did  not  give  his  opinion,  that  the  charter 
laid  before  them  was  legal,  for  that  reason  when  he  afterward  went  to  England, 
they  represented  him  there  as  an  Atheist, — a  man  of  no  religion;  for  the  great  mis- 
fortune of  most  of  these  people  is,  that  a  man  has  no  religion,  in  their  opinion, 
if  he  be  not  possessed  of  as  much  cant,  hypocrisy,  and  enthusiasm  as  themselves. 
Yet  this  College  has  a  Presbyterian  or  Independent  President  [Mr.  Burr],  and  is  a 
most  excellent  institution,  under  the  sole  inspection  and  direction  of  the  '  Watch- 
Tower';  and  because  that  of  New  York  [King's  College,  now  Columbia]  is  not 
under  their  sole  direction,  it  is  a  most  scandalous,  pitiful,  paltry  institution." 

The  "  Watch-Tower"  is  the  title  of  a  series  of  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  "New  York  Gazette"  in  1754  and  1755.  The 
entire  series  was  edited,  and  many,  if  not  the  greater  part,  of 
the  articles  were  written,  by  Wm.  Livingston,  Esq.,  an  eminent 
lawyer  of  New  York,  and  subsequently  Governor  of  New  Jer- 
sey, being  the  first  Governor  after  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. The  preface  to  No.  XL.  of  the  "  Watch-Tower"  is 
avowedly  written  by  the  editor ;  but  the  paper  itself  professes 
to  be  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  the  country  to  his  friend  in 
the  city,  and  it  contains  a  reply  to  some  of  the  statements  in 
the  supplement  cited  above  :  it  is  as  follows  : 

"  Sir, — The  reflections  that  have  been  frequently  cast  on  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  by  the  enemies  of  the  '  Watch-Tower'  are  so  perfectly  groundless,  and  appear 
so  evidently  the  effects  of  envy  and  impotent  malice,  that  I  have  ever  thought  them 
unworthy  of  the  least  notice,  and  I  should  with  the  same  neglect  have  treated  the 
spiteful  performance  which  appeared  in  the  Supplement  of  the  '  Mercury,'  num- 
ber 155,  had  you  not  judged  a  few  remarks  on  some  points  of  it  necessary  for  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Public. 

"  The  present  Constitution  of  the  College  has  no  dependence  upon  the  Charter 
obtained  from  Governor  Hamilton,  nor  indeed  any  relation  to  it,  as  that  by  which 
it  is  now  established  is  in  sundry  respects  different;  the  majority  of  the  Trustees 
being  also  different  persons. 

"  That  Governor  Morris  [Robert  Hunter  Morris,  who  at  this  time  was  Deputy- 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey]  was  misrepre- 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE    COLLEGE.  51 

sented  at  Home  [in  England],  is  to  me  entirely  new,  and  has  not,  I  am  persuaded, 
the  least  foundation  in  Truth.  The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  are 
disposed  to  treat  that  Gentleman  with  all  suitable  respect,  and  none  have  the  least 
inclination  to  enter  into  a  Dispute  with  him.  But  if  he  requests  it,  a  particular 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  first  charter  was  obtained  shall  be  published, 
together  with  a  full  and  candid  Disquisition  of  any  Accusation  he  may  be  pleased 
to  bring.  Till  this  happens,  no  notice  shall  be  taken  of  any  ill-natured  Reflections 
made  by  a  Person  totally  ignorant  of  his  subject,  and  who  will  not,  I  am  confident, 
receive  any  thanks  from  the  Governor  for  introducing  his  name  into  a  controversy 
with  which  he  had  no  connexion.  The  story,  as  represented  from  hearsay,  as  the 
author  himself  confesses,  is  grossly  and  notoriously  false,  and  that  almost  in  every 
circumstance,  as  can  be  made  to  appear  by  sufficient  evidence. 

"  Whether  the  Charter  obtained  from  Governor  Hamilton  in  his  declining  state 
was  a  valid  one,  I  am  not  able  to  determine.  The  contrary,  however,  has  always 
appeared  to  me  most  probable,  and  that  it  was  therefore  wisely  resigned ;  though, 
indeed,  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Newark  is  established  by  a  charter  obtained  of 
the  same  gentleman  and  in  the  same  circumstances,  the  validity  of  which  I  have 
not  heard  called  in  question. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  College  at  present  is  established  by  a  Charter,  with 
its  usual  formalities,  from  Governor  Belcher,  with  the  full  consent  of  his  Council, 
on  the  petition  of  several  public-spirited  gentlemen,  who  have  with  great  pains  and 
Industry  laid  a  Foundation  for  a  liberal  education  of  Youth  in  a  Province  where  it 
was  evidently  wanted,  and  in  which  no  undertaking  of  like  nature  had  ever  been 
attempted. 

"  And  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  majority  of  the  Trustees  thereby  in- 
corporated were  professed  Presbyterians,  yet  it  is  worth  remarking  that  his  Excel- 
lency at  the  same  time  generously  offered  to  grant  a  charter,  with  equal  Privileges, 
to  any  Gentlemen  of  the  Episcopal  Persuasion  who  should  be  willing  to  embark  in 
the  like  noble  design. 

"  The  present  Charter  exhibits  a  most  Catholic  Plan,  and  contains  no  exclusive 
clauses  to  deprive  persons  of  any  Christian  denomination  (except  Papists)  either 
from  its  Government  or  any  of  its  Privileges."  Signed  T.  T. 

If  the  remark  in  the  last  sentence  be  understood  as  implying 
that  Papists  were  excluded  from  any  of  the  privileges  of  the 
College,  it  will  make  a  wrong  impression.  No  such  words, 
"  except  Papists,"  occur  in  the  charter.  It  is  expressly  set 
forth,  as  one  reason  for  granting  the  charter,  "  that  the  said 
petitioners  have  expressed  their  earnest  desire  that  those  of 
every  religious  denomination  may  have  equal  liberty  and  ad- 
vantages of  education,  any  different  sentiments  in  religion  not- 
withstanding." It  is  true  that  the  Trustees — none  others — were 
required  to  take  certain  oaths  for  the  security  of  his  Majesty's 
person  and  government,  and  respecting  the  succession  of  the 
Crown,  which  "  Popish  recusants"  could  not  or  would  not  take, 


52          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  on  that  account  could  not  be  Trustees  of  the  College.  Upon 
the  establishment  of  American  Independence  these  oaths  were 
no  longer  required. 

There  is  one  matter  in  this  letter  in  defence  of  the  College 
to  which  exception  will  be  taken  when  the  two  charters  shall 
come  more  distinctly  under  consideration ;  but  on  the  whole 
we  regard  it  as  a  dispassionate  and  satisfactory  reply  to  the 
charges  made  against  the  petitioners  for  the  first  charter,  and 
as  exposing  the  ignorance  as  well  as  the  malevolence  of  their 
assailant.  The  object  of  the  writer  of  this  vindication  was 
rather  to  defend  the  College  as  it  was  at  the  time  he  wrote, 
viz.,  in  1755,  than  to  defend  the  charter  given  by  President 
Hamilton  or  the  conduct  of  those  concerned  in  soliciting  it. 
He  does  indeed  say  that  the  account  given  of  the  wJwle  matter 
"  is  grossly  and  notoriously  false ',  and  that  almost  in  every  circum- 
stance, as  can  be  made  to  appear  by  sufficient  evidence" 

He  might  have  added  that  it  was  obviously  contradictory 
and  absurd.  The  writer  of  the  supplement  admits  that  the 
charter  was  obtained  "  in  a  public  manner,  by  petition,  and 
passed  the  seal  in  the  same  legal  manner  that  other  grants  of 
the  King  do,"  and,  further,  "  that  a  draft  of  the  charter  was  laid 
before  Mr.  Hamilton  in  Council''  Had  age  and  infirmity  ren- 
dered the  other  members  of  the  Council,  as  well  as  the  Presi- 
dent, unequal  to  the  task  devolved  upon  them  ?  Without  the 
consent  of  the  Council,  Mr.  Hamilton  could  not  have  given  the 
petitioners  a  charter,  if  he  had  been  disposed  to  do  so.  It  is 
clearly  implied,  in  the  charges  under  consideration,  that  almost 
immediately  after  the  death  of  Governor  Morris  the  petitioners 
applied  to  Governor  Hamilton,  in  Council.  Governor  Morris 
died  on  the  2 1st  of  May,  1746;  the  charter  was  given  five 
months  after,  viz.,  on  the  22d  of  October  of  the  same  year. 
Surely  there  was  no  hot  haste  in  this  thing,  especially  as  the 
labor  of  maturing  the  plan  had  all  been  done  by  the  parties 
seeking  the  charter.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  a  Chief 
Justice  of  the  acknowledged  ability  of  Chief-Justice  R.  H. 
Morris  would  require  several  months  to  determine  whether  the 
granting  of  the  charter  would  be  illegal,  when,  according  to 
the  writer  of  the  supplement,  the  petitioners  themselves  "  were 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE   COLLEGE. 


53 


well  convinced  of  its  illegality."  With  his  well-known  hostility 
to  the  granting  of  a  charter,  if  such  an  inquiry  was  ever  made 
of  him,  it  cannot  be  uncharitable  to  suppose  that  he  wilfully 
deferred  making  his  response  as  to  the  legality  of  the  proposed 
grant  until  President  Hamilton  and  the  Council,  as  well  as  the 
petitioners,  were  annoyed  by  the  delay  and  determined  to  wait 
no  longer.  And  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  writer 
of  No.  XL.  of  the  "Watch-Tower"  had  allusion  to  something 
of  this  kind  when  he  made  the  remark,  "-But  if  he  [Chief-Justice 
R.  H.  Morris]  requests  it,  a  particular  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  first  charter  was  obtained  shall  be  published,  together 
with  a  full  and  candid  Disquisition  of  any  Accusation  lie  may 
be  pleased  to  bring."  In  these  words  there  is  an  evident  inti- 
mation that  in  the  conduct  of  the  Chief  Justice  relative  to  the 
charter  there  were  things  that  would  not  redound  to  his  credit. 

While  making  the  intimation  just  mentioned,  the  writer  of 
No.  XL.  of  the  "Watch-Tower"  says  nothing  respecting  the 
statement  made  by  the  writer  of  the  supplement,  that  the  peti- 
tioners "were  ordered  to  lay  a  copy  of  the  charter  before  the 
Chief  Justice  for  his  opinion,  whether  it  was  legal  to  grant  it  or 
not."  Although,  possibly  for  some  unexplained  reason,  this  may 
have  been  so,  yet  it  is  far  more  probable  that  the  Chief  Justice, 
being  a  member  of  the  Council,  requested  that  all  action  in  re- 
gard to  the  charter  might  be  deferred  until  he  could  carefully 
examine  its  provisions  and  satisfy  himself  as  to  the  propriety  of 
his  giving  his  consent,  as  a  member  of  the  Council,  to  the  prayer 
of  the  petitioners.  Beyond  all  question,  the  usual  course  in 
regard  to  all  important  grants  was  to  refer  them  to  the  Attorney- 
General  of  the  Province  for  his  opinion  as  to  the  legality  of  the 
grants  therein  contained.  The  Attorney-General  at  this  time 
was  J.  Warrell,  Esq.,  the  same  gentleman  who,  upon  the  grant- 
ing of  the  charter  of  1748  by  Governor  Belcher,  signed  the  fol- 
lowing declaration  at  the  close  of  the  charter  :  [L.  s.]  "  I  have 
perused  and  considered  the  written  charter,  and  find  nothing 
contained  therein  inconsistent  with  his  Majesty's  interest  or  the 
honor  of  the  Crown." 

On  the  charter  given  in  July,  1718,  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  Perth  Amboy,  by  Governor  Hunter,  there  is  a  like  declara- 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

tion,  signed  by  Thomas  Gordon,  the  Attorney- General  at  that 
time.  But  whatever  may  be  the  precise  facts  in  the  case  of  the 
first  charter  of  the  College,  whether  it  was  referred  to  the  Chief 
Justice  or  the  Attorney-General,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  the 
petitioners  for  a  college  were  under  no  obligation  to  the  Chief 
Justice  for  any  favor  extended  to  them  by  him. 

Although  President  Hamilton  was  in  feeble  health  during  the 
time  he  administered  the  government, — from  May  21,  1746,  to 
June  17,  1747,  when  he  died, — he  appears  to  have  attended  per- 
sonally to  the  duties  of  his  office  until  the  latter  part  of  Decem- 
ber ;  and  the  first  official  information  we  have  that  his  health 
prevented  his  corresponding  with  the  Home  Government  is  con- 
tained in  a  letter  written  at  his  request  by  Messrs.  James  Alex- 
ander and  R.  Hunter  Morris  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  The  date 
of  this  letter  is  the  24th  of  December,  1746,  two  months  after 
the  College  charter  had  passed  the  seal  of  the  Province. 

The  two  gentlemen  here  named  were  members  of  the  Council. 
In  any  record  of  what  Mr.  Hamilton  did  at  this  time  there  is  no 
evidence  of  an  infirm  state  of  mind.  His  consenting  to  grant 
the  petition  for  a  college  charter  is  in  full  accord  with  what 
would  have  been  expected  of  him  in  his  best  days. 

The  above  sketch  shows  what  was  the  condition  of  civil 
affairs  in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  and  also  the  state  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  country  at  large,  so  far  as  they  had 
any  bearing,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  upon  the  erection  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey.  It  also  shows  who  were  the  parties 
engaged  in  accomplishing  this  important  work,  and  that  the 
College  owes  its  origin  to  the  need  felt  by  them  of  more  ample 
provision  than  any  at  that  time  within  convenient  reach,  for  the 
thorough  training  of  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry,  in  both 
their  preparatory  and  professional  studies.  But  in  the  erection 
of  this  College  its  founders  did  not  limit  their  views  simply  to 
the  educating  of  candidates  for  the  ministry.  It  was  also  their 
aim  to  make  full  provision  for  the  instruction  of  all  classes  of 
youth  who  might  desire  to  obtain  a  liberal  education  and  be 
disposed  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  furnished  by 
such  a  seminary  of  learning. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF  THE   COLLEGE.  55 

With  the  modes  of  conveyance  then  in  use,  Harvard  and 
Yale,  the  only  Colleges  in  New  England,  were  too  remote  for 
the  convenience  of  youth  residing  in  the  middle  Provinces. 
The  stand  taken  by  the  authorities  of  these  Colleges  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  extravagances  which  in  not  a  few  instances  attended 
the  great  religious  awakening  of  that  period,  and  seemingly  to 
the  awakening  itself,  alienated  from  them  more  or  less  some  of 
the  best  and  most  moderate  men  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Suspicions,  not  fully  warranted  by  the  facts  of  the  case,  were 
beginning  to  find  vent  that  they  were  tinctured  with  Armin- 
ianism,  and  were  tending  to  even  greater  departures  from  the 
thorough  Calvinism  of  their  founders  and  early  friends.* 

It  has  been  said  that  the  College  owes  its  origin  to  the  ex- 
pulsion of  David  Brainerd,  the  celebrated  missionary,  from  Yale 
College,  and  to  the  refusal  of  the  Presidentf  and  Trustees  to 
admit  him  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  at  the  same  time  with 
the  members  of  his  class.  The  following  extract  is  taken  from 
Dr.  D.  D.  Field's  "  Genealogy  of  the  Brainerd  Family,"  page  265  : 

"  It  is  clear  enough  that  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
refusal  of  a  degree  to  David  Brainerd  by  the  Faculty  and  Trustees  of  Yale  College, 
after  all  his  readiness  to  confess  his  faults,  and  to  confess  them  openly  and  fully. 
Others  in  New  England  sympathized  with  him,  and  others  at  a  distance.  Among 
the  former  were  the  Rev.  Moses  Dickinson,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Norwalk,  Con- 
necticut ;  among  the  latter,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Newark,  who  pleaded  for  Brainerd  before  the  authorities  of  Yale  College  in  behalf 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge  in  Foreign  Parts,  which 
had  appointed  him  their  missionary. 

"  And  now  I  will  state  a  fact  that  may  not  be  known  to  very  many  that  will  read 

*  See  Governor  Belcher's  letter  of  the  3lst  of  May,  1748,  to  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Edwards,  and  also  President  Quincy's  "  History  of  Harvard  University,"  vol.  ii. 
pp.  52  and  67. 

f  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  man  of  the  eminent  ability  and  piety  of  President 
Clap  should  not  have  discriminated  more  nicely  between  what  was  genuine  and 
what  was  false  in  the  great  religious  awakening  of  his  day,  and  that  he  should  have 
treated  with  marked  severity  any  of  his  pupils  whose  strong  religious  feelings  may 
have  betrayed  them  into  the  use  of  unguarded  language  or  into  a  disregard  of  col- 
lege rules.  For  his  inflexible  adherence  to  what  he  deemed  to  be  his  duty,  in 
those  times  of  high  excitement  in  matters  of  religion,  he  is  to  be  held  in  honor  and 
esteem.  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  he  was  sound  in  doctrine,  and  a  faithful 
servant  of  Christ. 


56          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

this  book.  I  once  heard  the  Hon.  John  Dickinson,  Chief  Judge  of  the  Middlesex 
County  Court,  Connecticut,  and  son  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dickinson,  of  Norwalk,  say 
that  the  establishment  of  Princeton  College  was  owing  to  the  sympathy  felt  for 
David  Brainerd,  because  the  authorities  of  Yale  College  would  not  give  him  his 
degree,  and  that  the  plan  of  the  College  was  drawn  in  his  father's  house. 

"  Perhaps  I  have  not  given  every  word  as  he  uttered  the  declaration.  But  .  .  . 
I  am  certain  that  I  have  declared  the  precise  fact  that  Judge  Dickinson  uttered. 
There  is  evidence  that  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr  said,  after  the  rise  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, that  it  would  never  have  come  into  existence  had  it  not  been  for  the  expulsion 
of  David  Brainerd  from  Yale  College.  It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  three  of  the  men 
most  conspicuous  in  their  sympathy  and  efforts  for  Brainerd  were  the  first  three 
Presidents  of  that  College, — Jonathan  Dickinson,  Aaron  Burr,  and  Jonathan 
Edwards." 

The  evidence  here  referred  to  respecting  Mr.  Burr's  declara- 
tion, is  probably  that  given  in  Dr.  A.  Alexander's  work,  en- 
titled "The  Log  College,"  page  127,  in  these  words:  "Some 
years  ago  the  writer  heard  the  relict  of  the  late  Dr.  Scott,  of 
New  Brunswick,  say,  that  when  she  was  a  little  girl,  she  heard 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Burr  declare  in  her  father's  house  in  Newark,  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  treatment  received  by  Mr.  Brainerd  at 
Yale,  New  Jersey  College  would  never  have  been  erected." 

Mrs.  Scott  was  a  Miss  Crane,  daughter  of  Mr.  Elihu  Crane, 
of  Newark,  and  a  step-daughter  of  President  Dickinson. 

These  statements  were  given  from  memory  long  after  they 
were  uttered;  and  if  they  be  in  every  particular  strictly  accu- 
rate, it  does  not  follow  that  the  College  of  New  Jersey  owes  its 
existence  to  the  treatment  which  Brainerd  received  from  the 
authorities  of  Yale  College.  The  originators  of  the  plan  for 
the  erection  of  a  college  in  New  Jersey  may  have  needed  the 
stimulus,  which  that  occurrence  gave  them,  to  mature,  without 
further  delay,  their  plan  for  a  seminary  of  learning,  which  for 
several  years  they  had  deemed  necessary  to  the  proper  training 
of  candidates  for  the  ministry  in  their  branch  of  the  Church, 
and  for  the  liberal  education  of  youths  designed  for  other  em- 
ployments; and  it  may  have  been  that  without  this  additional 
incitement  their  plan  for  such  an  institution  would  not  have 
been  perfected  at  that  time,  nor  the  requisite  steps  taken  to 
secure  a  charter,  which  in  those  days  was  deemed  essential  to 
the  establishment  of  a  college,  or  at  least  to  the  conferring  of 
literary  degrees. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE    COLLEGE. 


57 


It  has  also  been  said  that  the  Log  College  was  the  germ  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  Whitefield  somewhere  speaks 
of  the  Neshaminy  school  as  having  grown  into  a  large  college, 
now  erecting  in  the  Jerseys.*  But  we  cannot  see  the  matter 
in  this  light.  For,  as  shown  in  the  preceding  narrative,  the 
friends  and  patrons  of  the  Neshaminy  school  stood  aloof  when 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  first  established.  With  no  more 
propriety,  therefore,  can  we  look  to  the  Log  College  to  dis- 
cover the  origin  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  than  we  can  to 
the  head-waters  of  the  Neshaminy  to  ascertain  the  fountain- 
head  of  the  Delaware,  of  which  river  the  Neshaminy  is  but  a 
branch  and  a  tributary. 

After  the  College  was  in  operation,  and  when  it  was  pro- 
posed to  enlarge  the  institution,  and  to  obtain  a  new  charter, 
the  friends  of  the  Log  College  came  into  the  measure,  and 
became  earnest  and  most  efficient  friends  of  the  enterprise,  and 
contributed  very  largely  to  its  success. 

In  New  England  the  College  of  New  Jersey  had  many  well- 
wishers,  and  prominent  among  these  Jonathan  Edwards  and 
Moses  Dickinson.  There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  some 
of  the  more  extravagant  among  the  Revivalists  in  New  Eng- 
land, after  they  had  seen  and  renounced  their  errors,  took  an 
interest  in  the  institution  designed  to  promote  fervent  piety  and 
sound  learning,  and  to  be  the  advocate  of  such  genuine  works 
of  grace  as  were  often  witnessed  in  the  revivals  of  those  times. 
In  this  class  may  be  placed  James  Davenport  and  Timothy 
Allen,  men  of  talent,  learning,  and  piety,  yet  for  a  time  erratic 
and  even  fanatical,  but  afterwards  sober-minded  and  desirous  to 
repair  the  evils  of  their  wild  and  unwarrantable  courses.  With 
the  aid  of  some  friends,  they  erected,  in  New  London,  Connecti- 
cut, an  institution  called  by  them  "  The  Shepherd's  Tent,"  to 
educate  men  of  the  right  stamp  for  the  ministry.  They  were  led 
to  do  this  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  of  Harvard  and  Yale 
to  their  teaching  and  measures,  and  also  on  account  of  the  severe 
treatment  which  Mr.  Davenport  received  at  the  hands  of  both 
the  civil  and  Church  authorities  of  Connecticut.  By  prohibiting 

*  Dr.  Stearns's  History  of  the  First  Church  of  Newark. 
VOL.  I. — 5 


58          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  establishment  of  seminaries  by  private  persons,  the  Legis- 
lature of  Connecticut  compelled  the  friends  of  this  school  to 
remove  it  to  Rhode  Island,  where  it  lingered  for  a  time,  and 
was  given  up. 

Mention  is  made  of  the  "  Shepherd's  Tent"  by  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  in  their  letter  of  the  3<Dth  of  May,  1746,  to  Presi- 
dent Clap,  of  Yale  College,*  and,  from  the  manner  in  which  it 
is  spoken  of,  it  is  evident  that  the  Synod  had  about  the  same 
opinion  of  it  which  they  had  entertained  of  Mr.  Tennent's 
school.  They  assure  the  President  that  they  will  be  shy  of  the 
proposals  of  the  New  York  Synod  for  a  friendly  correspond- 
ence "  till  they  show  us  in  what  way  they  intend  to  have  their 
youth  educated  for  the  ministry,  and  be  as  ready  to  discourage 
all  such  methods  of  bringing  all  good  learning  into  contempt, 
as  the  '  Shepherd's  Tent.'"  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  knew 
full  well  that  Mr.  Dickinson  and  his  friends  of  the  New  York 
Presbytery  were  as  earnestly  in  favor  of  a  thorough  education 
of  candidates  for  the  ministry  as  they  themselves  were ;  but  the 
Synod  also  knew  that  the  majority  of  the  Synod  of  New  York 
were  not  so ;  and  they  were  apprehensive  that  if  the  Synod  of 
New  York  took  order  in  regard  to  the  erection  of  a  school  or 
college,  it  would  be  of  the  character  and  standing  of  the  Log 
College,  or  of  the  Shepherd's  Tent.  The  language  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  makes  it  evident  that  the  Synod  was  not 
aware  that  even  before  this  time  the  leading  members  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  had  sought  to  obtain  a  charter  for  a 
college. 

Between  the  supporters  of  the  Shepherd's  Tent  and  the  pe- 
titioners for  authority  to  erect  a  college  in  New  Jersey  there 
was  not  at  that  time  a  full  accord  in  doctrine,  and  there  was 
but  little,  if  any,  sympathy.  The  principal  of  the  Tent  and 
several  other  ministers  of  like  mind  united  in  controverting  the 
views  of  President  Dickinson,  as  set  forth  in  his  dialogue  "  On 
the  Display  of  Divine  Grace,"  and  in  condemning  him,  for  teach- 
ing what  they  then  regarded  as  an  inexcusable  error,  viz.,  that 
the  proof  of  our  justification  is  to  be  found  in  the  evidence  of 

*  See  the  printed  minutes  of  the  Synod. 


THE    ORIGIN  OF   THE   COLLEGE. 


59 


our  sanctification.  (See  Webster's  "  Church  History,"  page  584.) 
But,  as  intimated  above,  Messrs.  Allen  and  Davenport  changed 
their  views  and  openly  renounced  their  errors  in  doctrine  and 
in  practice,  and  subsequently  connected  themselves  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  For  some  years  they  resided  in  New 
Jersey,  and  labored  here  in  the  ministry,  and  were  members  of 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.*  The  Rev.  Timothy  Symes, 
one  of  the  ministers  who  had  united  with  Allen  in  condemning 
the  work  of  President  Dickinson,  settled  in  East  Jersey  in  1746, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  As 
they  had  become  Presbyterians,  and  had  settled  within  the 
bounds  of  a  Synod  the  members  of  which  were  now  all  earn- 
estly united  in  favor  of  the  then  only  Presbyterian  college  in  the 
land,  they  too  could  not  fail  to  give  it  their  best  wishes. 

The  union  of  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  of  Philadelphia,  in 
1757,  served  to  promote  a  friendly  feeling  towards  the  College 
on  the  part  of  sundry  ministers  of  the  Philadelphia  Synod;  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1766  a  proposition  from  a  number  of  gentle- 
men in  Philadelphia  and  Lewistown,  Pennsylvania,  was  made  to 
the  Trustees,  that  the  Faculty  of  the  College  should  be  further 
enlarged  by  the  appointment  of  several  professors,  to  be  chosen 
without  respect  to  former  divisions  or  parties  in  the  Church, 
with  the  promise  of  pecuniary  aid  in  case  their  proposal  should 
be  accepted. 

It  was  found  that  this  arrangement  could  not  be  carried  into 
effect.  Still,  a  friendly  feeling  was  promoted. 

Thus  from  the  different  sources  here  enumerated,  and  from 
others  less  prominent,  including  several  academies,  there  were 
raised  up  friends  for  the  new  College,  who  all  contributed  more 
or  less  to  its  prosperity.  But  for  its  first  establishment,  as  will 
be  more  fully  shown,  the  College  was  indebted,  under  God,  to 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Pierson,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Aaron 
Burr,  and  their  immediate  friends  and  helpers.  They  engaged 
with  earnestness  in  this  undertaking,  because  they  knew  and 
felt  the  need  of  just  such  an  institution  to  train  for  the  Church 

*  See  article  Davenport,  in  Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  iii. 
page  90. 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

a  pious  and  learned  ministry,  and  for  the  other  learned  profes- 
sions a  body  of  intelligent  and  godly  men. 

May  the  time  be  far  distant,  or,  rather,  may  it  never  arrive, 
when  this  College  shall  be  an  "institution  devoted  exclusively 
[or  even  mainly]  to  the  advancement  of  science  or  general  liter- 
ature"! On  the  contrary,  may  it  ever  be  regarded  as  an  insti- 
tution consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  for  the  defence  of 
revealed  truth  and  for  the  promotion  of  fervent  piety  and  sound 
learning ! 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    DESIGN    OF    THE    COLLEGE,    AND    ITS    RELATIONS    TO    THE 
CHURCH   AND  THE  STATE. 

IN  tracing  the  origin  of  the  College,  its  design  was  almost 
necessarily  brought  into  view ;  but  not  so  fully  as  the  impor- 
tance of  that  design  demands. 

The  chief  aim  of  the  founders  and  early  friends  of  the  College 
was  to  furnish  the  Church,  and  more  especially  their  own  branch 
of  it,  with  a  pious  and  learned  ministry.  But  this  was  not  their 
only  aim.  It  was  a  part  of  their  plan  to  provide  liberally  for 
the  proper  intellectual  and  religious  culture  of  all  classes  of 
youths  who  might  be  disposed  to  avail  themselves  of  the  facili- 
ties afforded  by  this  institution  for  such  culture. 

The  Trustees  under  the  second  charter  were  in  full  accord 
with  those  under  the  first,  and  all  had  one  object  in  view.  Mr. 
Burr,  the  first  President  under  the  second  charter,  was  Mr.  Dick- 
inson's successor  under  the  first  charter;  and  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  all  the  surviving  Trustees  of  the  first  charter  were 
Trustees  under  the  charter  given  by  Governor  Belcher  two 
years  after.  The  correspondence  of  the  Governor  -furnishes 
complete  evidence  that  he  and  the  early  friends  of  the  College 
were  all  of  one  mind  as  to  the  objects  to  be  attained  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  College,  which  was  already  in  opera- 
tion when  he  entered  upon  the  administration  of  public  affairs 
in  New  Jersey.  In  offering  to  give  the  College  "  a  new  and 
better  charter,"  it  was  not  his  aim  to  change  the  character  of  the 
College,  but  only  to  enable  it  the  more  readily  and  effectually 
to  accomplish  the  design  of  its  founders. 

The  view  here  given  of  this  design  is  fully  established  by 
the  following  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees,  and 
from  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  New  York.  At  a  meeting 

61 


62          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

of  the  Board,  held  October  13,  1748,  after  accepting  the  char- 
ter offered  them  by  Governor  Belcher,  the  Trustees  voted  to 
present  an  address  to  the  Governor,  and  to  "  thank  his  Excel- 
lency for  the  grant  of  the  charter."  The  further  record  of  this 
matter  is  as  follows  : 

"  An  address  being  drawn  up  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burr,  was  read  and  approved. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cowell  wait  upon  his  Excellency  and  present  the 
address  to  him. 

"  Ordered,  That  a  copy  of  the  address  be  taken  by  the  Clerk  and  inserted  in  the 
minutes. 

"  To  His  Excellency 

"JONATHAN  BELCHER,  ESQ., 

"  Captain- General  and  Governor-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  and  ter- 
ritories thereon  depending  in  America,  and  Vice-Admiral  of  the  same : 
"  The  Humble  Address  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
"  May  it  please  your  Excellency, — 

"  We  have  adored  the  wise  and  gracious  Providence  which  has  placed  your 
Excellency  in  the  chief  seat  of  government  in  this  Province,  and  have  taken  our 
parts  with  multitudes  in  congratulating  New  Jersey  upon  that  occasion. 

"  Your  long  known  and  well  approved  friendship  to  religion  and  learning  left 
us  no  room  to  doubt  your  doing  all  that  lay  in  your  power  to  promote  so  valuable 
a  cause  in  these  parts,  and  upon  this  head  our  most  raised  expectations  have  been 
abundantly  answered.  We  do,  therefore,  cheerfully  embrace  this  opportunity  of 
paying  our  most  grateful  and  sincere  acknowledgments  to  your  Excellency  for 
granting  so  ample  and  well-contrived  a  charter  for  erecting  a  seminary  of  learning 
in  this  Province,  which  has  been  so  much  wanted  and  so  long  desired. 

"  And  as  it  has  pleased  your  Excellency  to  intrust  us  with  so  important  a  charge, 
it  shall  be  our  study  and  care  to  approve  ourselves  worthy  of  the  great  confidence 
you  have  placed  in  us,  by  doing  our  utmost  to  promote  so  noble  a  design. 

"  And  since  we  have  your  Excellency  to  direct  and  assist  us  in  this  important 
and  difficult  undertaking,  we  shall  engage  in  it  with  the  more  freedom  and  cheer- 
fulness; not  doubting  but  by  the  smiles  of  Heaven,  under  your  protection,  it  may 
prove  a  flourishing  seminary  of  piety  and  good  literature ;  and  continue  not  only 
a  perpetual  monument  of  honor  to  your  name,  above  the  victories  and  triumphs  of 
renowned  conquerors,  but  a  lasting  foundation  for  the  future  prosperity  of  Church 
and  State. 

"  That  your  Excellency  may  long  live, — a  blessing  to  this  Province,  an  ornament 
and  support  to  our  infant  college, — that  you  may  see  your  generous  designs  for  the 
public  good  take  their  desired  effect,  and  at  last  receive  a  crown  of  glory  that 
fadeth  not  away,  is  and  shall  be  our  constant  prayer. 

"  By  order  of  the  Trustees. 

"  THOMAS  ARTHUR,  Cl.  Cor. 

"NEW  BRUNSWICK,  October  13,  1748." 

To  which  his  Excellency  was  pleased  to  return  the  following 
answer: 


THE  DESIGN  OF  THE   COLLEGE,  ETC.  63 

"  GENTLEMEN  : 

"  I  have  this  day  received  by  one  of  your  members,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cowell,  your 
kind  and  handsome  address;  for  which  I  heartily  return  you  my  thanks;  and  shall 
esteem  my  being  placed  at  the  head  of  this  government  a  still  greater  favor  from 
God  and  the  King,  if  it  may  at  any  time  fall  in  my  power,  as  it  is  my  inclination, 
to  promote  the  kingdom  of  the  great  Redeemer,  by  taking  the  College  of  Nezu  Jersey 
under  my  countenance  and  protection,  as  a  seminary  of  true  religion  and  good 
literature. 

"J.  BELCHER." 

In  an  address  to  the  Governor  by  the  Trustees,  the  date 
being  September  24,  1755,  mention  is  made  of  his  ardor  for  the 
promotion  of  true  piety  and  sound  learning  among  the  inhabitants 
of  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  College  to  him, 
under  God,  for  its  then  flourishing  state.  In  his  reply  he  says : 

"  It  seemed  to  me  that  a  seminary  of  religion  and  learning  should  be  promoted 
in  this  Province,  for  the  better  enlightening  the  minds  and  polishing  the  manners 
of  this  and  the  neighboring  colonies.  .  .  .  This  important  affair  I  have  been, 
during  my  administration,  honestly  and  heartily  prosecuting  in  all  such  laudable 
ways  and  measures  as  I  have  judged  most  likely  to  effect  what  we  all  aim  at, 
which  I  hope  and  believe  is  the  advancing  the  kingdom  and  interest  of  the 
blessed  Jesus  and  the  general  good  of  minkind." 

These  extracts  furnish  abundant  evidence  that  the  promotion- 
of  true  religion  and  of  sound  learning  was  the  aim  of  all  concerned 
in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  College  of  Ne^v  Jersey. 

Although  the  Synod  of  New  York,  as  a  body,  took  no  part 
in  the  first  efforts  to  establish  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  but 
left  this  important  measure  to  the  fostering  care  of  sundry 
leading  ministers  and  laymen  connected  with  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  yet  when  the  new  charter  was  given  to  the  Col- 
lege by  Governor  Belcher,  the  entire  Synod  became  interested 
in  promoting  the  design  of  the  College.  And  when,  in  1753, 
the  Trustees  of  the  College  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies  to  visit 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  to  solicit  funds  for  the  erection  of 
suitable  buildings,  the  Synod,  upon  the  petition  of  the  Trustees, 
appointed  these  distinguished  gentlemen  to  this  work,  gave 
them  letters  of  commendation,  and  sent  with  them  an  earnest 
appeal  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  for 
aid  in  behalf  of  the  College.  After  reciting  their  utter  inability 
to  meet  the  demand  for  ministers,  to  supply  the  Presbyterian 


64          HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

churches  in  connection  with  the  Synod,  in  the  Provinces  of 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
Carolina,  the  Synod  say: 

"  Now,  it  is  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey  only  that  we  can  expect  a  remedy 
for  these  inconveniences;  it  is  to  that  [college]  your  petitioners  look  for  the  in- 
crease of  their  numbers ;  it  is  on  that  the  Presbyterian  churches  through  the  six 
colonies  above  mentioned  principally  depend  for  a  supply  of  accomplished  minis- 
ters ;  from  that  has  been  obtained  considerable  relief  already,  notwithstanding  the 
many  disadvantages  that  unavoidably  attend  it  in  its  present  infant  state;  and 
from  that  may  be  expected  a  sufficient  supply,  when  brought  to  maturity. 

"  Your  petitioners,  therefore,  earnestly  pray  that  this  very  reverend  Assembly 
would  afford  the  said  College  all  the  countenance  and  assistance  in  their  power. 
The  young  daughter  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  helpless  and  exposed  in  foreign 
lands,  cries  to  her  tender  and  powerful  mother  for  relief.  The  cries  of  ministers 
oppressed  with  labors,  and  of  congregations  famishing  for  want  of  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  implore  assistance.  And  were  the  poor  Indian  savages  sensible 
•of  their  own  case  they  would  join  in  the  cry,  and  beg  for  more  missionaries  to  be 
sent  to  propagate  the  religion  of  Jesus  among  them." 

In  the  conclusion  of  their  address  they  add: 

".Now,  as  the  College  of  New  Jersey  appears  to  be  the  most  promising  expedient 
to  redress  these  grievances,  and  to  promote  religion  and  learning  in  these  Provinces, 
your  petitioners  most  heartily  concur  with  the  Trustees,  and  humbly  pray  that  an  act 
/may  t>e  passed  by  this  venerable  and  honorable  Assembly  for  a  national  collection 
in  behalf  of  said  College."  (See  printed  minutes,  pp.  255  and  256,  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York.) 

Funds  more  than  sufficient  to  defray  the  expense  of  erecting 
Nassau  Hall  was  the  result  of  this  action  of  the  Synod.  The 
above  extracts  from  the  address  of  the  Synod  to  the  General 
.Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  show  clearly  why  the 
.members  of  the  Synod  labored  so  assiduously  to  establish 
.and  to  sustain  with  vigor  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  They 
regarded  it  as  the  most  effectual  means  of  supplying  their 
churches  with  an  able  ministry. 

The  authorities  above  cited*  are  amply  sufficient  to  establish 
the  positions  assumed  above  as  to  the  views  and  aims  of  those 
who  founded  and  built  up  this  institution.  Prompted  by  a 
strong  desire  to  further  the  interests  of  religion,  and  more 
especially  to  furnish  their  own  branch  of  the  Church  with  an 
able  and  learned  ministry,  they  sought  to  lay  the  foundation  of 

*  See  also  the  Rev.  David  Cowell's  letter,  urging  Mr.  Davies  to  accept  the  presi- 
dency of  the  College,  in  Dr.  Hall's  "History,"  page  132,  or  Webster's,  page  444. 


THE  DESIGN  OF  THE   COLLEGE,  ETC.  65 

an  institution  of  learning  which  should  be  commensurate  with 
the  wants  of  the  whole  community,  and  so  to  conduct  its  affairs 
as  to  promote,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  the  welfare  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  State. 

Having  obtained  a  charter,  to  use  their  own  expression,  "  so 
ample  and  well  contrived,"  the  Trustees  were  not  only  content, 
but  perfectly  satisfied  with  its  provisions.  It  gave  them  all  they 
wanted.  They  were  left  untrammelled  by  the  State,  and  yet 
were  under  its  protection.  They  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the 
Church,  and  yet  were  perfectly  free  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
they  deemed  best  adapted  to  the  success  of  the  institution,  and 
through  it  to  advance  the  civil  and  religious  interests  of  the 
country ;  and,  being  wise,  active,  and  pious  men,  their  labors 
were  not  in  vain. 

The  view  here  presented  accords  fully  with  that  given  by 
President  Green  in  his  "  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Origin  and 
Design  of  the  College,"  as  the  following  extract  from  that  work 
will  fully  show : 

"  It  is  apparent  not  only  from  the  motives  which  so  powerfully  influenced  those 
who  first  projected  the  College,  and  who  labored  so  long  and  earnestly  to  establish 
it,  but  from  the  express  and  repeated  declarations  of  Governor  Belcher,  in  his  re- 
plies to  the  addresses  to  the  original  Trustees  (those  named  in  the  second  charter), 
that  this  institution  was  intended,  by  all  the  parties  concerned  in  founding  it,  to  be 
one  in  which  religion  and  learning  should  be  unitedly  cultivated  in  all  time  to 
come.  This  ought  never  to  be  forgotten.  There  is  scarcely  anything  more  un- 
righteous in  itself,  or  more  injurious  to  society,  than  disregarding  and  perverting 
the  design  of  the  founders  of  charitable,  religious,  or  literary  institutions.  It  is 
doing  base  injustice  to  the  dead,  and  at  the  same  time  a  powerful  and  often  an 
.effectual  discouragement  to  those  among  the  living,  who  might,  otherwise,  make 
exertions  and  bestow  their  property  to  found  and  endow  establishments  of  the 
greatest  public  utility.  It  is  hoped  that  the  guardians  of  Nassau  Hall  will  forever 
keep  in  mind  that  the  design  of  its  foundation  would  be  perverted  if  religion 
should  ever  be  cultivated  in  it  to  the  neglect  of  science,  or  science  to  the  neglect  of 
religion ;  if,  on  the  one  hand,  it  should  be  converted  into  a  religious  house  like  a 
Monastery,  or  a  Theological  Seminary,  in  which  religious  instruction  should  claim, 
almost  exclusively,  the  attention  of  every  pupil;  or  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it  should 
become  an  establishment  in  which  science  should  be  taught,  how  perfectly  soever, 
without  connecting  with  it,  and  constantly  endeavoring  to  inculcate,  the  principles 
and  practice  of  genuine  piety.  Whatever  other  institutions  may  exist  or  arise  in 
our  country,  in  which  religion  and  science  may  be  separated  from  each  other  by 
their  instructors  or  governors,  this  institution,  -without  a  gross  perversion  of  its 
original  design,  can  never  be  one." 


66          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Governor  Belcher  and  the  Trustees, 
in  speaking  of  the  College  as  an  institution  designed  for  the 
promotion  of  religion  and  learning,  always  mention  religion 
first ;  and  it  is  evident  from  what  they  said  and  did  with  respect 
to  the  College,  that  the  religious  culture  of  the  pupils  was  the 
thing  uppermost  in  their  minds,  and  that  to  which  they  attached 
the  most  importance.  Between  true  religion  and  sound  learn- 
ing there  cannot  be  any  real  or  substantial  disagreement ;  nor 
will  the  volume  of  Nature  when  thoroughly  unfolded  be  found 
to  contradict  the  volume  of  Inspiration  properly  interpreted. 
Science,  falsely  so  called,  may  call  into  question  the  teachings  of 
revealed  truth,  but  such  a  thing  as  this  can  never  be  allowed  in 
this  institution,  unless  its  guardians  lose  sight  of  its'  original 
design  and  prove  recreant  to  the  trust  confided  to  them.  Yea, 
more,  if  due  regard  be  had  to  this  sacred  trust,  the  promo- 
tion of  true  religion  will  ever  be  regarded  by  the  authorities  of 
the  College  as  having  the  first  claim  upon  their  attention,  in 
all  their  plans  for  the  extension  and  the  improvement  of  the 
course  of  instruction  given  in  the  College.  It  must  ever  be  the 
solemn  duty  of  the  Trustees  to  see  to  it,  in  the  selection  of 
persons  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  their  own  Board,  that  none 
be  chosen  in  regard  to  whom  any  doubt  can  be  entertained 
as  to  their  approval  of  the  original  design  of  the  College,  or  in 
regard  to  their  earnest  desire  to  secure  the  very  purposes  for 
which  the  College  was  erected.  In  the  good  providence  of 
God,  the  College  has  an  ample  charter,  that  is  equal  to  all  its 
legitimate  aims ;  and  we  trust  that  it  will  undergo  no  radical 
changes,  in  deference  to  the  varying  opinions  of  the  day  and 
to  a  public  clamor  for  experiment  and  innovations.  If  the  Col- 
lege were  a  State  institution,  founded,  supported,  and  governed 
by  State  authorities,  it  might  with  some  show  of  reason  be 
expected  to  conform  its  teachings,  discipline,  and  mode  of  select- 
ing its  guardians  and  instructors  to  the  wishes  and  whims  of 
those  who,  from  time  to  time,  may  represent  the  opinions  of 
the  community  at  large:  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey.  It  was  founded,  not  by  the  State,  although 
with  the  sanction  and  under  the  protection  of  the  civil  power, 
to  accomplish  certain  definite  purposes,  and  in  a  certain  definite 


THE  DESIGN  OF  THE   COLLEGE,  ETC.  67 

way.  Nor  was  it  founded  directly  by  the  Church,  although 
one  branch  of  the  Church  extended  to  it  a  fostering  care,  and 
prominent  members  of  that  Church  were  the  first  to  devise  the 
plan  of  it  and  to  lay  its  foundations.  The  founders  of  the 
College  were  both  members  of  the  Commonwealth  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  and  they  were  in  every  respect  suitable 
men  to  be  intrusted  with  the  important  enterprise  of  erecting 
and  controlling  an  institution  for  the  education  of  youth,  in 
whose  education  both  the  State  and  the  Church  were  deeply 
interested.  In  both  charters  it  was  stipulated  that  none  should 
be  excluded  from  the  privileges  of  the  College  on  account  of 
any  different  religious  sentiments,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Eng- 
lish Universities,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  all  should  enjoy 
equal  liberties  and  privileges ;  yet  the  very  terms  of  the  stipu- 
lation show  that  the  College  was  expected  to  have  a  religious 
faith,  although  none  were  to  be  required  to  adopt  the  religious 
views  embraced  by  the  College  authorities  as  a  condition  of 
enjoying  the  privileges  afforded  to  its  members. 

The  petitioners  for  the  College  charter  were  known  to  be 
Presbyterians,  and  it  was  also  known  that  the  governing  motive 
with  them  in  seeking  a  charter  was  to  provide  for  the  youth  of 
their  own  Church,  and  more  especially  for  their  candidates  for 
the  ministry,  a  thorough  training  in  all  the  various  branches 
of  a  liberal  education,  including,  as  a  matter  of  the  highest  in- 
terest, full  instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith, 
according  to  their  understanding  of  them. 

Either  the  superior  judgment  of  those  concerned  in  the 
foundation  of  our  College,  and  their  great  liberality  of  senti- 
ment, or  else  the  circumstances  of  their  position,  perhaps  all 
combined,  led  them  to  adopt  the  very  best  plan  possible  for  the 
right  founding  and  the  right  ordering  of  such  an  institution. 
They  made  it  neither  a  State  College  nor  a  Church  College, 
but  committed  it  to  the  oversight  and  care  of  a  select  number 
of  the  very  best  men  interested  in  this  enterprise,  and  who  had 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  whole  community,  being  lead- 
ing men  both  in  the  Church  and  in  the  State. 

It  has  been  sometimes  a  matter  of  remark  and  even  censure 
that  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  never  contributed  any  funds 


68  HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSE\. 

for  sustaining  its  oldest  college,  which  has  been  a  source  of 
many  benefits  to  the  State,  and  the  occasion  of  large  sums  of 
money  being  expended  here.  But  in  this  matter  we  incline  to 
the  opinion  that  the  Legislature  has  acted  wisely  for  the  State 
and  happily  for  the  College.  Had  the  College  been  liberally 
endowed  by  the  State,  this  might  have  given  the  Legislature  a 
pretext,  if  nothing  more,  for  interfering  with  the  government  and 
course  of  instruction ;  which  we  are  happy  to  say  it  has  never 
attempted  to  do.  In  the  charter  of  the  College  the  Legislature 
has  never  made  a  change,  except  at  the  request  of  the  Trustees ; 
and  never  refused  to  make  one  desired  by  the  Board.  And, 
further,  the  Legislature  has  at  different  times  enacted  special 
laws  for  the  protection  of  the  students  from  extortion  and  for 
the  guarding  of  their  health  and  morals. 

Had  the  College  been  a  State  institution,  under  the  control 
of  a  Board  of  Trustees  chosen  from  time  to  time  by  the  State 
authorities,  and  with  a  course  of  instruction  and  a  system  of 
government  presented  by  the  Legislature,  the  State  would  doubt- 
less have  regarded  it  as  a  duty  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  sustain 
the  College,  and  to  provide  the  requisite  means  for  an  ample 
and  most  liberal  course  of  instruction.  But  in  this  case  prob- 
ably the  course  of  religious  instruction,  the  most  important 
given  in  any  school  or  college,  must  have  been  circumscribed 
and  of  a  comparatively  limited  extent,  if  not  wholly  excluded: 
lest  the  rights  of  conscience  should  be  invaded. 

The  only  effectual  course  to  guard  against  such  a  result  is  to 
have  this  matter  of  a  higher  education  in  the  hands  of  a  select 
number  of  prominent  citizens,  bearing  the  twofold  relation  of 
citizens  and  of  church-members,  with  power  to  perpetuate  them- 
selves, by  filling  at  their  own  discretion  all  vacancies  in  their 
own  body,  and  let  all  who  are  disposed  and  are  able  to  estab- 
lish such  institutions  be  encouraged  to  do  so,  by  granting  them 
corporate  privileges  without  regard  to  the  particular  religious 
denomination  with  which  they  are  associated.  In  this  way  full 
provision  may  be  made  in  the  academic  curriculum  for  all  the 
religious  instruction  which  the  interests  of  either  the  State  or 
the  Church  call  for.  Each  pupil,  or  his  parent  for  him,  can 
select  the  college  he  prefers,  in  view  of  all  the  advantages  prof- 


THE  DESIGN    OF  THE    COLLEGE,  ETC.  69 

fered,  and  neither  pupil  nor  parent  can  properly  complain  that 
the  student  is  required  to  give  attention  to  the  whole  of  the 
prescribed  course,  including  the  religious  as  well  as  the  literary 
and  scientific  parts  of  that  course. 

On  this  plan,  too,  each  religious  denomination  will  have  a 
guarantee  that  the  children  of  their  own  Church  will  have  a 
sound  religious  training  according  to  their  views  of  truth.  For 
such  colleges  must  to  a  great  extent  depend  for  their  patronage 
and  support  upon  that' religious  denomination  with  which  the 
trustees  and  teachers  are  connected ;  and  thus  indirectly  the 
Church,  or  the  particular  branch  of  it  under  whose  auspices  a 
college  has  been  established,  will  have  a  voice  in  its  manage- 
ment, and  that  too  without  being  subjected  to  any  of  those  in- 
conveniences and  troubles  to  which  a  more  direct  control  might 
readily  and  naturally  give  rise,  introducing  jealousies  and  col- 
lisions into  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  themselves.  Happily  for  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  it  is  not  and  never  has  been  a  State  or 
a  Church  college ;  yet  through  the  whole  period  of  its  exist- 
ence it  has  merited  and  received  the  countenance  and  favor  of 
that  branch  of  the  Church  most  interested  in  its  establishment, 
and  also  the  confidence  and  protection  of  the  State  authorities 
which  gave  and  confirmed  its  charter.  Yea,  more,  such  from 
the  beginning  has  been  its  catholic  spirit,  that  not  a  few  of  its 
warmest  friends  have  been  found  in  other  denominations  than 
the  Presbyterian ;  and  it  has  had  the  honor  to  educate  for  other 
branches  of  the  Church  some  of  their  brightest  intellects,  who 
have  not  failed  to  acknowledge  their  indebtedness  to  their 
Alma  Mater. 

While,  therefore,  the  friends  of  this  College  are  not  called 
upon  to  speak  disparagingly  of  colleges  directly  under  either 
State  or  Church  control,  they  may  be  thankful  that  the  College 
of  their  affections  was  intrusted  to  the  exclusive  care  of  a  few 
wise  and  select  men,  who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  laid  deep  its 
foundations,  and  upon  them  erected  an  institution  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  piety  and  learning,  and  had  a  special  reference 
to  the  supplying  of  their  own  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
with  a  godly  and  well-trained  ministry. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  CHARTERS    OF   1746  AND   1748. 

THE  first  charter  of  the  College  passed  the  great  seal  of  the 
Province  on  the  22d  of  October,  1746,  and  it  was  attested  by 
John  Hamilton,  Esq.,  President  of  his  Majesty's  Council,  and 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  as  appears 
from  a  memorandum  made  in  Book  C  of  Commissions  and 
Charters,  etc.,  page  137,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  New  Jersey. 

The  charter  itself  is  not  given  in  these  records.  By  the  par- 
ties to  whom  it  was  granted  it  is  spoken  of  as  ".a  charter  with 
full  and  ample  privileges,"  and  one  by  which  "  equal  liberties 
and  privileges  are  secured  to  every  denomination  of  Christians, 
any  different  religious  sentiments  notwithstanding." 

In  an  advertisement  in  the  "  New  York  Gazette  and  Weekly 
Post  Boy"  of  February  2,  1746-47,  it  is  mentioned  that  this 
charter  was  granted  to  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Pierson, 
Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Aaron  Burr,  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  some  other  gentlemen,  as  Trustees  of  said  College. 

According  to  a  memorandum  made  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Fitz 
Randolph,  of  Princeton,  the  gentleman  who  gave  to  the  College 
the  land  upon  which  Nassau  Hall  is  erected,  the  whole  number 
of  Trustees  under  the  first  charter  was  twelve. 

This  comprises  all  that  is  now  positively  known  respecting 
this  charter,  of  which  neither  the  original  nor  any  copy  is  to  be 
found. 

In  his  biographical  sketches  of  Presbyterian  ministers  in  this 
country,  the  late  Rev.  Richard  Webster  mentions  that  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Arthur  was  one  of  the  original  Trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege. This  is  by  no  means  improbable ;  but  on  what  authority, 
or  with  what  understanding  of  its  import,  this  statement  is  made, 
70 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   1748.  ji 

is  not  known.  Mr.  Arthur  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  New  Brunswick,  and  a  member  not  of  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Brunswick,  but  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  of  which 
body  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pemberton,  and  Burr  were  all 
members.  Mr.  Arthur  is  named  in  the  second  charter  as  one 
of  the  Trustees  under  that  grant. 

The  second  charter  was  given  two  years  after  the  first,  by 
Jonathan  Belcher,  Esq.,  his  Majesty's  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
and  it  passed  the  great  seal  of  the  Province  on  the  I4th  of 
September,  1748.  Under  this  second  charter  the  number  of 
clerical  and  lay  Trustees,  exclusive  of  the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, was  equal.  It  is,  therefore,  most  probable  that  one-half 
of  the  Trustees  under  the  first  charter  were  laymen.  And  as 
all  the  ministers  who  are  known  to  have  been  Trustees  under 
the  first  charter,  and  alive  at  the  date  of  the  second  charter,  are 
named  as  Trustees  in  this  second  instrument,  so  it  is  probable 
that  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  lay  members  of  the  Board  under 
the  first  charter,  who  were  living  at  the  date  of  the  second, 
continued  to  be  Trustees  under  the  second. 

The  ministers  of  the  gospel  known  to  have  been  Trustees 
under  the  first  charter  all  resided  either  in  East  Jersey  or  in 
New  York  City;  and  this  renders  it  highly  probable  that  the 
lay  Trustees  associated  with  them  were  also  residents  in  the 
same  districts. 

Of  the  lay  Trustees  named  in  the  second  charter,  William 
Smith  and  P.  V.  B.  Livingston  were  members  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  of  which  church  the 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Pemberton  was  the  pastor ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
Mr.  Pemberton  was  a  Trustee  under  both  charters.  Wm.  Pear- 
tree  Smith,  who  was  a  Trustee  from  1748  to  1793,  forty-five 
years,  also  resided  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  the  respective 
dates  of  the  first  and  of  the  second  charter.  Subsequently  he  was 
a  prominent  citizen  of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  and  a  Trustee 
of  the  Presbyterian  church  there.  James  Hude,  a  member  of 
his  Majesty's  Council  for  New  Jersey,  was  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  New  Brunswick,  under  the  pastoral  care 
of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Arthur.  Andrew  Johnston,  who  was  not 
only  a  Trustee,  but  also  the  first  person  chosen  Treasurer  of  the 


72          HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

College  under  the  second  charter,  was  a  member  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's Council  for  New  Jersey,  and  a  resident  of  Perth  Amboy, 
the  residence  of  President  Hamilton,  and  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment for  East  Jersey.  Messrs.  Hude  and  Johnston  were 
members  of  the  Council  when  President  Hamilton,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Council,  granted  the  first  charter.  The  five 
civilians  here  named  as  included  among  the  Trustees  under 
the  second  charter  were  all  gentlemen  of  high  standing,  and 
for  the  reasons  suggested  above  we  deem  it  morally  certain 
that  some  if  not  all  of  them  ,were  Trustees  of  the  College 
under  the  first  charter  as  well  as  under  the  second ;  and  that 
Samuel  Smith,  the  earliest  historian  of  New  Jersey,  was  sub- 
stantially correct  in  saying  that  "  the  College  was  first  founded 
by  a  charter  from  President  Hamilton,  and  enlarged  by  Gov- 
ernor Belcher."  (See  Smith's  "  History  of  New  Jersey,"  page 
490.)  Mr.  Smith  was  a  personal  friend  of  Governor  Belcher, 
and  for  some  years  a  townsman. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in  the  second  charter  there  is  no  reference 
made  to  the  one  previously  granted  by  President  Hamilton  of 
his  Majesty's  Council;  and  there  appears  to  have  been  a  dis- 
position upon  the  part  of  some  of  the  friends  of  the  College  to 
lose  sight  of  the  first  charter,  and  to  regard  the  College  under 
the  second  charter  as  a  new  and  distinct  institution.  Thus,  in 
an  account  of  the  College  prepared  by  Mr.  Samuel  Blair,  then 
a  Tutor  in  the  College,  under  the  direction  of  President  Finley,  . 
and  published  in  1766,  we  meet  with  the  following  statement 
upon  page  7 : 

"  Yet  even  in  this  dark  period  there  were  not  wanting  several  gentlemen,  both 
of  the  civil  and  of  the  sacred  character,  who,  forming  a  just  estimate  of  the  im- 
portance of  learning,  exerted  their  utmost  efforts  to  plant  and  cherish  it  in  the 
Province  of  New  Jersey.  After  some  disappointments  and  fruitless  attempts,  appli- 
cation was  at  length  made  to  his  Excellency  Jonathan  Belcher,  Esq.,  at  that  time 
Governor  of  the  Province;  and  in  the  year  1748  he  was  pleased,  with  the  approba- 
tion of  his  Majesty's  Council,  to  grant  a  charter  incorporating  sundry  gentlemen 
of  the  clergy  and  laity,  to  the  number  of  twenty-three,  as  Trustees,  investing  them 
with  such  powers  as  were  requisite  to  carry  the  design  into  execution,  and  consti- 
tuting his  Majesty's  Governor,  for  the  time  being,  ex  officio  their  President." 

The  writer  of  No.  XL.  of  the  "  Watch-Tower"  uses  the  fol- 
lowing language  (see  pages  50  and  51,  ante}: 


THE   CHARTERS   OF   1746  AND   1748.  73 

"  The  present  constitution  of  New  Jersey  College  has  no  dependence  upon  the 
charter  obtained  from  Governor  Hamilton,  nor  indeed  any  relation  to  it;  as  that 
by  which  it  is  now  established  is  in  sundry  respects  different,  the  majority  of  the 
Trustees  being  also  different  persons.  Whether  the  charter  obtained  from  Governor 
Hamilton  in  his  declining  state  was  a  valid  one  I  am  not  able  to  determine.  The 
contrary,  however,  has  always  appeared  to  me  most  probable,  and  that  it  was 
therefore  wisely  resigned;  though,  indeed,  the  Episcopal  church  in  Newark  is 
established  by  a  charter  obtained  of  the  same  gentleman  and  in  the  same  circum- 
stances, the  validity  of  which  I  have  not  heard  called  in  question." 

The  writers  of  the  "  Watch  -Tower"  were  opposed  to  the 
founding  of  a  college  in  New  York  by  charter  from  a  Gov- 
ernor, and  insisted  it  should  be  by  an  act  of  the  Assembly,  of 
course  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Governor  and  Council;  and 
they  were  therefore,  in  all  probability,  the  more  predisposed 
to  question  the  validity  of  a  charter  granted  not  even  by  the 
regularly  commissioned  Governor,  but  by  one  for  the  time  being 
administering  the  government;  and  they  were  not  unwilling  to 
throw  doubt  upon  the  right  of  Lieutenant-Governor  De  Lancey, 
then  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  New  York,  to  grant  a  charter  for 
a  college  to  be  established  in  that  Province,  by  giving  utterance 
to  any  doubt  they  may  have  had  respecting  the  validity  of  the 
charter  granted  by  the  acting  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

As  to  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  under  the 
second  charter  were  different  persons  from  those  under  the 
first,  it  has  nothing  to  do  in  deciding  the  matter  in  question, 
viz.,  whether  the  College  under  the  second  charter  was  the  same 
with  that  under  the  first  charter.  Under  the  first  the  number 
of  Trustees  was  tivelve,  and  under  the  second  twenty-three.  Of 
the  former,  one  at  least  had  died ;  and  this  itself  would  make 
the  nnv  Trustees  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  under  the 
second  charter. 

It  is  true  that  the  first  charter  ceased  to  be  of  any  force  upon 
the  acceptance  of  the  second;  and  inasmuch  as  the  first  was 
never  recorded,  and  as  all  persons  who  could  claim  any  rights 
or  privileges  under  it  had  transferred  their  interests  to  a  new 
corporation,  no  formal  surrender  of  it  was  tendered  to  the 
granting  power;  nor  was  any  such  surrender  required.  This 
view  of  the  matter  accords  with  what,  in  a  letter  of  the  date  of 
July  4,  1748,  Governor  Belcher  said  to  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 

VOL.  I. — 6 


74          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

nent,  and  probably  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  made  by  Mr.  Tennent, 
viz., "  as  the  old  charter  was  not  recorded,  upon  the  appearance 
of  the  present  one  the  old  one  would  become  a  nonentity." 
By  "the  present  one"  is  meant  the  charter  prepared  by  himself, 
or  under  his  instructions,  which  at  the  date  of  his  letter  was 
probably  ready  for  revision  by  the  Council. 

In  a  letter  dated  July  28,  1748,  and  addressed  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Pemberton,  Governor  Belcher  says  : 

"  The  charter  has  passed  the  seal,  and  is  ready  in  all  respects,  and  I  think  it  is 
best  that  you  and  Mr.  Burr  come  hither  [to  Burlington]  as  soon  as  you  can,  to  re- 
ceive it  from  me,  and  that  I  may  talk  with  you  about  the  College." 

And  on  the  3<Dth  of  the  same  month  he  writes  to  Mr.  Ten- 
nent: 

"  I  have  wrote  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  desiring  he  and  Mr.  Burr  would  be  here  as 
soon  as  they  could,  and  when  they  come  they  should  give  you  notice  to  come 
hither  also,  when  I  shodld  deliver  the  charter  to  you  gentlemen  on  behalf  of  the 
Trustees." 

In  these  extracts,  written  in  July,  1748,  it  is  distinctly  said 
that  "the  new  charter  has  passed  the  seal,  and  is  ready  in  all 
respects;"  and  yet  it  appears  from  the  charter  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Trustees,  that  it  was  attested  by  the  Governor 
and  passed  the  seal  of  the  Province  on  the  I4th  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1748.  The  only  solution  of  the  discrepancy  here  men- 
tioned is  this,  viz.,  that  Messrs.  Pemberton,  Burr,  and  Tennent 
were  not  altogether  satisfied  with  some  clauses  of  the  charter  as 
at  first  prepared  by  the  direction  of  Governor  Belcher,  and  that 
at  their  request  the  charter  was  altered,  and  passed  the  seal  a 
second  time  on  the  I4th  of  September,  1748,  the  day  after  its 
final  approval  by  the  Council  of  the  Province. 

It  was  doubtless  from  viewing  the  first  charter  as  a  nullity 
upon  their  acceptance  of  the  second,  and  from  their  regarding 
a  charter  as  essential  to  the  very  being  of  a  college,  that  the 
Trustees,  in  one  of  their  written  addresses  to  Governor  Belcher, 
viz.,  in  that  of  November  24,  1755,  speak  of  him  as  "\hzfounder, 
patron,  and  benefactor  of  the  College." 

As  to  the  validity  of  the  charter  given  by  President  Hamil- 
ton, there  is  no  more  room  for  doubt  than  there  is  with  re- 


THE    CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND  1748.  75 

spect  to  the  validity  of  the  one  granted  by  Governor  Belcher. 
From  the  instructions  given  to  Lord  Cornbury,  Governor  of  the 
Province  from  1702  to  1708  (see  Smith's  "History  of  New 
Jersey,"  pages  258  and  259),  it  is  evident  that,  upon  the  death  or 
absence  of  the  Governor  and  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  the  senior 
Councillor  became  the  acting  Governor,  and  was  in  express 
terms  authorized  to  exercise  all  the  powers  of  the  Governor: 

..."  It  is  our  will  and  pleasure,  therefore,  that  if,  upon  your  death  or  absence, 
there  be  no  Lieutenant-Governor  or  Commander-in-Chief,  the  eldest  Councillor, 
whose  name  is  first  placed  in  our  instructions  to  you,  and  who  shall  be,  at  the  time 
of  your  death  or  absence,  residing  in  our  said  Province  of  New  Jersey,  shall  take 
upon  him  the  administration  of  the  government,  and  execzite  our  said  commission- 
arid  instructions,  with  the  several  powers  and  authorities  therein  contained,  in  the 
same  manner,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  either  otir  Governor  or  Commander- 
in-Chief  should  or  might  to  do,  in  case  of  your  absence,  or  until  your  return,  or  in 
all  cases  until  our  further  pleasure  be  known.'" 

August  23,  1743,  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade  wrote 
to  John  Hamilton,  Esq.,  in  reply  to  his  letter  of  June  9,  that 
the  Board  looked  upon  him  to  be  the  legal  President  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  New  Jersey  from  the  28th  of  March,  1736,. 
till  Mr.  Morris  took  possession  of  the  government.  Upon  the 
death  of  Governor  Morris,  1746,  Mr.  Hamilton,  being  the  senior 
Councillor,  again  took  upon  himself  the  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Province  as  President  of  the  Council  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief; and  as  such  he  granted,  in  the  name  of  the 
King,  with  the  consent  of  the  Council,  the  first  charter  of  the 
College. 

It  is  a  far  more  serious  question  whether  a  charter  given  by 
a  Governor  was  a  valid  one  before  it  received  the  sanction  of 
his  Majesty  by  the  advice  of  his  Council.  The  one  hundredth 
article  of  the  instructions  given  to  Lord  Cornbury  is  in  these 
words : 

"And  if  anything  shall  happen  that  shall  be  of  advantage  and  security  to  our 
said  Province,  which  is  not  herein  or  by  our  commission  to  you  provided  for,  we  do 
hereby  allow  you,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  our  Council  of  our  said  Province, 
to  take  order  for  the  present  therein,  giving  to  us,  bjr  one  of  our  principal  Secre- 
taries of  State,  and  to  our  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations,  speedy  notice.' 
thereof,  that  so  you  may  receive  our  ratification,  if  we  shall  approve  the  same.!' 

Lord  Cornbury  was  the  first  Governor  of  New  Jersey  ap- 


76          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

pointed  by  the  royal  authority  upon  the  surrender  of  the  gov- 
ernment by  the  Proprietors  of  East  and  West  Jersey ;  and  this 
no  doubt  accounts  for  the  fulness  and  particularity  of  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  him,  as  they  would  serve  for  the  guidance  of  his 
successors  in  office. 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  subsequent  aug- 
mentation of  the  powers  intrusted  to  the  Governor,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  further  restrictions  were  imposed. 

The  granting  of  charters  was  regarded  by  the  Crown  and  its 
advisers  as  a  special  prerogative  of  the  Crown.  The  Provincial 
Governors,  as  representatives  of  the  regal  authority,  considered 
.themselves  authorized  to  give  their  consent  to  legislative  acts 
.•granting  charters  for  various  purposes ;  and  among  them  were 
•charters  to  erect  institutions  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge 
and  for  its  increase  among  the  people.  But  these  charters  were 
liable  to  be  revoked  by  the  royal  authority;  and  in  one  instance, 
at  least,  the  royal  assent  was  refused  to  a  charter  to  Harvard 
College,  viz.,  to  the  one  granted  in  1692  by  the  General  Court 
•of  Massachusetts,  although  it  had  the  sanction  of  his  Majesty's 
'Governor  for  that  Province ;  and  in  other  instances  the  Gov- 
ernor refused  his  consent  to  the  action  of  the  General  Court  in 
reference  to  that  institution. 

The  charters  granted  by  President  Hamilton  and  Governor 
Belcher — the  first  charters  ever  granted  by  a  Governor  with 
merely  the  consent  of  his  Council — were  neither  ratified  nor 
revoked  by  the  supreme  authority.  Although  they  both  passed 
the  seal  of  the  Province,  the  first  was  never  recorded,  and  the 
•one  given  by  Governor  Belcher  on  the  I4th  of  September,  1748, 
was  not  recorded  until  the  4th  of  October,  1750,  more  than  two 
years  after  it  had  passed  the  seal ;  and  then  it  was  placed  on 
record  by  an  order  of  the  Trustees,  given  on  the  26th  of  Sep- 
tember immediately  preceding.  The  order  was  in  these  words  : 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Clerk  take  care  to  have  the  charter  recorded  in  the  Secre- 
tary's Office  at  Amboy  and  at  Burlington,  with  all  possible  speed ;  and  be  allowed 
lo  pay  the  charges  out  of  the  Lottery  money  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hude." 

There  is  scarcely  room  for  doubt  that  the  Trustees  were 
prompted  to  this  measure  by  the  sudden  and  severe  illness  of 


THK   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND  1748.  77 

Governor  Belcher  at  this  time,  and  from  an  apprehension  that 
if  the  charter  were  not  placed  on  the  records  of  the  Province 
it  might,  in  case  of  the  Governor's  decease,  be  altered  or  even 
altogether  revoked  by  his  successor  in  office.  Of  the  alarming 
illness  of  the  Governor  there  is  abundant  evidence.  Cadvval- 
lader  Golden,  in  a  letter  of  the  date  of  October  6,  1750,  to  R. 
H.  Morris,  then  in  London,  says,  "  Governor  Belcher  has  been 
seized  with  palsy  while  attending  Commencement  at  Newark." 
Governor  Belcher  himself,  writing  to  his  son  in  Ireland,  July  3, 
1752,  says  that  his  paralytic  affection  had  so  increased  that  for 
eighteen  months  he  had  not  been  able  to  hold  a  pen.  His  sub- 
sequent correspondence  shows  that  he  never  entirely  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  this  shock. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  reason  why  the  charter 
given  by  Governor  Belcher  was  not  sooner  delivered  to  the 
Trustees  was  owing  to  the  necessity  he  was  under  of  submitting 
it  to  the  inspection  of  the  Home  Government  and  of  obtaining 
the  King's  permission  before  issuing  the  instrument.  (See  Dr. 
Green's  "  Notes.")  But  the  correspondence  of  the  Governor 
with  Messrs.  Pemberton,  Burr,  Tennent,  and  Edwards,  respecting 
the  charter,  shows  conclusively  that  the  charter  was  not  sent 
to  England  before  its  delivery  to  the  Trustees.  Extracts  from 
this  correspondence,  establishing  this  fact,  will  hereinafter  be 
given. 

That  a  copy  of  it  was  not  sent  to  the  authorities  in  London, 
after  it  had  passed  the  seal  and  had  been  delivered  to  the 
Trustees,  is  morally  certain  from  the  delay  in  recording  the 
instrument  and  from  the  circumstance  that  the  recording  of  it 
took  place  by  order  of  the  Trustees  themselves,  and  not  in 
virtue  of  any  statute  requiring  it  to  be  done ;  and  it  is  beyond 
dispute  that,  although  given  in  the  name  of  George  the  Second, 
the  charter  never  received  his  Majesty's  ratification.  This  is 
evident  from  the  "  Diary"  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  who,  in 
company  with  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  visited  England  and 
Scotland  in  the  years  1753  and  1754  to  solicit  funds  to  aid 
the  Trustees  in  their  efforts  to  erect  suitable  buildings  for  the 
recently-established  college.  Under  the  head  of  February  6, 
1754,  Mr.  Davies  thus  writes: 


78  HISTORY  OF  7 HE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  Went  to  Mr.  Stennet's,  who  went  with  us  to  introduce  us  to  the  Duke  of  Ar- 
gyle  to  deliver  Governor  Belcher's  letter.  We  found  eight  or  ten  Gentlemen  and 
Noblemen  waiting  in  his  Grace's  Levee.  His  Grace  took  us  into  his  Library,  a 
spacious,  elegant  room.  .  .  .  His  Grace  told  us,  after  reading  the  letter,  that  as 
the  College  related  to  the  Plantations,  we  ought  first  to  apply  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
and  Plantations,  and,  if  they  approved  of  it,  he  would  willingly  countenance  it, 
both  here  and  in  Scotland.  He  advised  us  to  apply  to  Lord  Halifax  or  Lord 
Duplin,  and  Mr.  Stennet  went  to  the  latter,  .  .  .  and  showed  our  Instructions  from 
the  Trustees,  and  the  petition  we  had  drawn  up.  Mr.  Stennet  told  him  he  applied 
to  him  in  confidence,  and  his  Lordship  assured  him  he  would  do  nothing  to  injure  us. 
He  thereupon  told  him  that  we  had  our  Charter  only  from  a  Governor,  and  asked 
him  whether  he  thought  it  would  be  deemed  valid  in  Court.  His  Lordship  replied 
that  he  doubted  it,  but  he  would  soon  satisfy  himself  by  enquiring  into  the  extent  of 
the  Governor's  commission ;  and  in  case  it  appeared  valid,  he  would  advise  us  to 
lay  the  matter  before  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  that  he  himself  would  go 
with  Mr.  Stennet  to  Mr.  Pelham  [the  Prime  Minister]  in  our  Favor,  and  introduce 
the  matter  in  Court.  For  my  part,  I  am  afraid  of  all  applications  to  that  Quarter, 
lest  we  lose  our  Charter  and  stir  tip  opposition  ;  and  it  is  against  my  mind  that  the 
matter  has  been  carried  so  far.  Dined  at  Mr.  Stennet's,  who  gave  us  five  guineas 
for  the  College.  Went  home  anxiotis  as  to  the  Fate  of  our  Application  to  the  Lords 
of  Trade  and  to  the  Court.'1'1 

Monday,  February  the  nth,  there  is  the  following  entry: 

"  Visited  Mr.  Mill,  and  delivered  Mr.  Donald's  letter.  He  and  his  partner,  Mr. 
Oswald,  advised  us  to  apply  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  to  encourage  our  Embassy.  But  I 
am  afraid  of  the  consequence.  Went  to  Mr.  Denham,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and 
had  a  long  and  difficult  dispute  with  him  about  the  importance  and  necessity  of  our 
College,  the  validity  of  our  Charter,  withozit  the  Royal  approbation,  etc.,  which  he 
managed  with  great  dexterity.  It  was  my  happiness  to  have  my  thoughts  ready, 
and  I  made  such  a  defence  as  silenced  him.  His  name  is  of  great  importance, 
and  I  was  solicitous  to  obtain  it  to  our  Petition,  had  lost  all  hope  of  it,  when,  to 
my  agreeable  surprise,  he  subscribed." 

Under  the  head  of  Thursday,  the  I4th  of  February,  Mr. 
Davies  says : 

"  Waited  on  Mr.  Stennet  to  hear  Lord  Duplin's  opinion  of  the  validity  of  our 
Charter,  but  he  was  indisposed  and  had  not  waited  on  his  Lordship." 

On  Wednesday,  the  6th  of  March,  Mr.  Pelham,  the  Prime 
Minister,  died,  and  his  death  diverted  the  attention  of  Lord 
Duplin  from  any  further  inquiry  with  respect  to  the  extent  of 
Governor  Belcher's  powers,  and  as  to  the  validity  of  the  charter, 
— matters  of  more  immediate  importance  at  home  demanding 
all  his  time.  At  any  rate,  no  further  mention  of  the  charter  is 
made  in  Mr.  Davies's  "  Diary,"  nor  any  allusion  to  it. 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  i746  AND  1748.  79 

In  reference  to  Mr.  Pelham's  death  and  its  results,  mentioned 
on  page  176  of  his  "  Diary,"  Mr.  Davies  observes: 

"  This  day  died  the  Honorable  Henry  Pelham,  Esq.,  Prime  Minister,  which  has 
struck  the  town  [London]  with  consternation.  He  has  left  a  general  good  char- 
acter behind  him ;  and  the  Court  is  puzzled  whom  to  choose  in  his  place." 

Again,  under  the  date  of  Tuesday,  the  igih  of  March,  Mr. 
Davies  writes : 

"  The  Court  is  all  in  confusion  about  choosing  one  to  fill  up  Mr.  Pelham's  place, 
and  the  King  is  much  perplexed.  He  says  he  "hoped  to  spend  his  old  age  in 
Peace,  but  all  his  Peace  is  buried  in  Mr.  Pelham's  grave."  ("  Diary,"  vol.  i. 
pages  188-89.) 

Elections  were  held  soon  after  in  the  city  of  London,  and, 
the  state  of  things  there  not  being  favorable  to  the  prosecution 
of  their  agency,  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  left  London  for 
Edinburgh;  and,  although  they  returned  to  London  before 
sailing  for  America,  nothing  more  appears  to  have  been  said 
or  done  in  reference  to  the  charter. 

Whether  the  approval  of  the  King  was  requisite  to  give 
validity  to  the  charter  is  now,  happily,  a  matter  of  no  moment 
to  the  College.  Its  validity  was  never  called  in  question  by 
any  court  in  Great  Britain  or  in  the  Province,  and  by  an  act 
passed  the  I3th  of  March,  1780,  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
recognized  and  confirmed  its  grants. 

It  is,  however,  a  matter  of  interest  to  many  friends  of  the 
College  whether  under  the  second  charter  it  was  a  new  insti- 
tution, and  entirely  distinct  from  the  College  under  the  first 
charter,  or  whether  it  was  the  same  College  under  both  charters. 
The  facts  recited  above  tend  to  show,  if  they  do  nothing  more, 
that  the  College  of  New  Jersey  under  the  first  charter  and 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  under  the  second  charter  were 
one  and  the  same  institution.  Its  powers  and  privileges  may 
have  been,  and  doubtless  were,  somewhat  enlarged,  and  the 
number  of  Trustees  nearly  doubled ;  but  the  Trustees  and 
students  of  the  one  became  Trustees  and  students  of  the 
other ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burr,  who,  upon  the  death  of  Mr. 
Dickinson,  had  the  oversight  and  instruction  of  the  students 
and  the  general  interests  of  the  College  intrusted  to  him,  was 


80          HISTORY  OF   7 HE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

unanimously  chosen  President  by  the  Trustees  of  the  second 
charter.  Before  the  second  charter  was  prepared,  it  must  have 
been  fully  understood  that  he  was  to  be  the  President  under 
the  second  charter,  as  appears  from  these  two  facts:  ist,  that 
the  whole  number  of  Trustees,  exclusive  of  the  Governor  of 
the  Province  and  the  President  ot  the  College,  was  limited  to 
twenty-one  ;  and,  2d,  that  in  the  charter  itself  twenty-two  names 
are  inserted,  and  one  of  them  is  that  of  Aaron  Burr,  who,  upon 
being  chosen  President,  became  ex  officio  a  Trustee,  and  this 
reduced  the  number  to  the  limit  prescribed  in  the  charter  itself. 

If  the  view  here  presented  be  the  correct  one,  President  Dick- 
inson is  justly  regarded  as  the  first  President  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey;  and  he  has  a  right  to  the  place  so  long  conceded 
to  him  in  the  triennial  catalogue  of  the  College  as  its  first  Presi- 
dent ;  and  to  him  and  his  associates  sJiould  also  be  conceded  the 
honor  of  being'  the  founders  of  the  College. 

The  advertisement  taken  from  the  "  New  York  Gazette"  of 
February  2,  1746-47,  and  inserted  at  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter,  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  show  that  the  first  charter  of 
the  College  was  obtained,  not  by  the  Synod  of  New  York,  but 
by  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York.  Had  it  been  obtained  through  any  action  of  the  Synod, 
or  by  any  concert  among  the  leading  members  of  that  body, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel  Blair 
would  have  been  mentioned  with  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson, 
Pemberton,  and  Burr  as  those  to  whom  the  charter  had  been 
granted.  They  were  both  far  too  prominent  in  the  Church  not 
to  have  been  named  in  such  an  announcement  to  the  public, 
had  they  been  Trustees  under  the  first  charter,  and  men  of 
too  much  influence  not  to  have  had  their  names  inserted  in  the 
charter,  had  they  consented  to  take  any  part  in  the  effort  to 
obtain  it.  Beyond  all  question,  Mr.  Tennent  was  the  most  in- 
fluential member  in  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  Mr. 
Blair  the  leading  man  in  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle ;  and 
had  the  first  efforts  to  establish  the  College,  and  to  procure  for 
it  a  charter,  originated  with  the  Synod,  the  whole  matter  would 
not  have  been  given  up  to  the  ministers  and  laymen  connected 
with  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  The  Presbytery  of  New 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   1748.  8 1 

Brunswick  embraced  a  larger  number  of  ministers  and  churches 
than  did  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  included  several  in 
Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  a  majority  of  those  in  New  Jersey. 

In  the  attempt  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  the  College  and  to 
increase  the  number  of  its  friends,  the  first  effort  was  naturally 
made  to  secure  the  countenance  and  support  of  the  friends  of 
the  Neshaminy  school,  and  to  bring  into  the  Board  of  Trustees 
Messrs.  Gilbert  and  William  Tennent,  and  some  of  their  par- 
ticular friends,  which  was  done ;  and  also,  as  far  as  practi- 
cable, to  gain  for  the  College  the  good  will  of  other  gentlemen 
of  position  and  influence,  both  in  West  Jersey  and  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. Hence  we  find  in  the  second  charter  the  names  of  Chief- 
Justice  Kinsey  and  Judge  Edward  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cowell,  of  Trenton,  then  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair, 
of  Fagg's  Manor,  Pennsylvania. 

In  the  list  of  ministers  whom  it  was  proposed  to  make 
Trustees,  under  the  second  charter,  Mr.  Blair's  name  was  not 
included  at  the  first;  possibly  from  a  doubt  of  his  willingness  to 
be  a  Trustee  in  an  institution  which  might  interfere  with  the  one 
established  by  himself,  or  might  require  him,  in  case  of  its  suc- 
cess, to  change  the  character  of  his  own  school.  But  whatever 
may  have  been  the  reason,  the  fact  was  as  here  stated  ;  and  this 
is  evident  from  Governor  Belcher's  letter  of  the  6th  of  April, 
1748,  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  in  which  he  says,  "  I  am  well 
pleased  to  add  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair  to  the 
Trustees,  for  you  must  remember  that  we  cannot  have  too 
many  friends  in  our  present  infant  state." 

The  circumstance  just  mentioned,  independently  of  the  evi- 
dence given  heretofore,  would  of  itself  make  it  morally  certain 
that  Mr.  Blair  was  not  a  Trustee  under  the  first  charter. 

The  ground  taken  above  as  to  the  oneness  of  the  College  under 
both  charters  is  abundantly  strengthened  by  the  following  extracts 
from  Governor  Belcher's  letters.  The  dates,  and  the  names  of 
the  persons  to  whom  the  letters  are  addressed,  precede  the  ex- 
tracts. Governor  Belcher  arrived  in  this  country  from  England 
August  8,  1747. 

October  8,  1747,  to  President  Dickinson: 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  I  duly  received  your  favor  of  the  loth  ult.,  enclosing  a  catalogue,  but  for  some 
reason  I  shall  not  send  it  forward  till  I  see  you,  which  I  hope  may  be  next  month, 
when  the  Assembly  sits  here, — the  i/th, — and  I  shall  be  glad  Mr.  Pemberton  could 
so  order  as  to  come  with  you,  and  that  you  may  be  prepared  to  lay  something  before 
the  Assembly  for  the  service  of  the  embryo  College,  as  a  Lottery,  or  anything  else." 

Mr.  Dickinson  died  on  the  /th  of  October,  1747,  the  day 
before  this  letter  was  written. 

October  8,  1747,  to  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  of  New  York: 

"  Mr.  Dickinson  has  sent  me  a  catalogue,  which  I  have  not  thought  proper  to 
send  forward  till  I  shall  talk  with  him  and  you,  and  which  I  hope  may  be  next 
month,  when  the  Assembly  of  the  Province  meets  here  (i7th),  and  I  would  have 
you  come  prepared  to  lay  something  before  the  Assembly  for  the  service  of.  our 
infant  College.  I  say  our,  because  I  have  determined  to  adopt  it  for  a  child,  and 
to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  promote  and  establish  so  noble  an  undertaking." 

October  8,  1747,  to  Mr.  Smith,  New  York.  After  acknowl- 
edging the  receipt  of  several  other  things  sent  to  him  by  Mr. 
Smith,  the  Governor  adds  : 

"  I  have  also  the  Lottery  scheme,  which  may  be  of  service  in  the  affair  of  our 
infant  College.  What  went  into  the  newspapers  was  carefully  done." 

These  are  extracts  from  three  letters  written  on  the  same 
day,  but  cited  in  the  reverse  order  from  that  in  which  they 
were  written, — one  to  the  President  of  the  College,  one  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  who  beyond  all  doubt  was  a  Trustee  under 
both  charters,  and  the  third  evidently  addressed  to  one  deeply 
interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  then  existing  College.  The  Mr. 
Smith  to  whom  one  of  these  letters  is  addressed  was  prob- 
ably Mr.  Wm.  Peartree  Smith,  of  whom  Governor  Belcher, 
in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sergeant,  of  the  date  of  February  23, 
1748,  makes  mention  as  being  his  correspondent  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  Mr.  Smith  was  one  of  the  Trustees  named  in  the 
second  charter,  and  most  probably  he  was  also  a  Trustee  under 
the  first.  In  addition  to  the  other  reasons  for  this  opinion 
assigned  above,  there  is  a  confirmation  of  it  in  the  form  of  ex- 
pression used  in  his  letter  to  this  gentleman,  "  our  infant  Col- 
lege" compared  with  the  same  expression  in  the  Governor's 
letter  to  Mr.  Pemberton  of  the  same  date,  in  which  he  explains 
his  meaning  in  his  use  of  this  phrase,  "our  infant  College:"  "I 
say  our,  for  I  have  determined  to  adopt  it  for  a  daughter."  This 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   1748.  83 

was  a  very  proper  expression  in  writing  to  a  Trustee  of  a  col- 
lege recently  organized,  but  not  an  appropriate  one  had  he 
been  writing  to  a  person  who  had  no  particular  connection  with 
the  College.  Mr.  Pemberton,  we  know,  was  a  Trustee  at  this 
time,  and  we  infer  it  to  be  highly  probable  that  Mr.  Smith  was 
also.  Mr.  Dickinson  is  urged  by  the  Governor  to  come  pre- 
pared to  present  a  petition  to  the  Assembly  for  a  lottery,  or  for 
something  else,  for  the  service  of  the  College.  In  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Smith,  the  Governor  speaks  of  having  also  the  Lottery 
scheme,  which  may  be  of  service  in  the  affairs  of  our  infant  Col- 
lege,— that  is,  in  case  the  Assembly  will  authorize  the  Trustees 
to  raise  funds  for  the  College  by  means  of  a  lottery. 
October  2,  1747,  to  his  friend  Mr.  Walley: 

"  There  has  been  a  striving  at  what  place  the  College  should  be  built,  but  I  have 
persuaded  those  concerned  to  fix  it  at  Princeton,  and  I  think  as  near  the  centre  as 
any,  and  a  fine  situation.  I  believe  they  must  have  a  new  and  better  charter,  which 
I  shall  give  them." 

This  letter  was  written  a  few  days  before  the  death  of  Presi- 
dent Dickinson,  and  it  determines  another  point  of  interest, — 
viz.,  that  the  question  of  another  charter  was  agitated  before  the 
death  of  President  Dickinson. 

November,  1747,  to  Mr.  Pemberton: 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  here  for  the  sake  of  the  College.  .  .  .  The  death  of 
that  eminent  servant  of  God,  the  learned  and  pious  Dickinson,  is  a  considerable 
Rebuke  of  Providence,  and  is  to  remind  us  that  we  have  such  precious  treasure 
in  earthen  vessels,  and  that  our  eyes  and  hearts  must  be  lifted  to  the  great  head  of 
the  Church,  who  holds  the  stars  in  his  right  hand.  Then  let  us  not  despond  or 
murmur." 

December  15,  1747,  to  Mr.  Allen,  of  Boston: 

"  The  death  of  the  late  excellent,  now  ascended,  Dickinson,  is  indeed  a  consid- 
erable loss  to  my  adopted  daughter ;  but  God  lives,  and  is  always  better  than  we 
deserve,  and  with  whom  we  must  wrestle  for  his  mercy  and  blessing  to  fall  upon 
our  Infant  College,  so  shall  it  rise  into  youth,  and  in  God's  best  time  become  an 
Alma  Mater  for  this  and  the  neighboring  colonies." 

January  25,  1747-48,  to  Mr.  Pemberton: 

"  As  to  a  new  charter,  if  you  and  the  rest  of  the  gentlemen  will  digest  that  mat- 
ter, and  with  enlargement,  in  the  best  manner  you  can,  and  let  me  have  a  Rough  of 
it,  to  see  if  it  can  be  made  better,  you  will  be  sure  of  all  my  Protection." 


84          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

This  last  extract  shows  that  at  the  date  of  this  letter  nothing 
had  been  done  towards  the  preparing  of  a  new  charter. 

March  21,  1747-48,  to  Mr.  Burr,  the  successor  of  President 
Dickinson: 

"  You  cannot  be  more  thoughtful  or  solicitous  for  the  growth  and  prosperity  of 
my  adopted  daughter,  and  our  future  Alma  Mater,  than  I  am.  In  order  to  the  per- 
fecting of  the  charter,  you  know  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  go  to  Philadelphia, 
and  which  I  intend  soon.  You  say  Commencement  is  designed  the  third  Wednesday 
of  May  next ;  so  I  -will  try  to  get  the  charter  to  you  before  that  time.  I  much  ap- 
prove a  wise  frugality  at  the  solemnity  you  mention,  more  especially  in  our  Infant 
Days,  for  I  think  the  too  common  Extravagances  and  Debauchery  at  such  times  be 
no  honor  to  what  may  laudably  pride  itself  in  being  called  a  Seminary  of  Religion 
and  Learning.  So  soon  as  the  charter  shall  be  completed,  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees 
will  be  very  proper  and  necessary." 

The  above  extract  shows  that  the  Governor  had  no  expec- 
tation that  the  charter  would  be  ready  much  before  the  third 
Wednesday  of  May.  It  was  not,  however,  prepared  and  issued 
until  the  \^th  of  September,  and  the  Commencement  was  post- 
poned from  time  to  time  until  the  9th  of  November,  at  the 
request  of  Governor  Belcher. 

May  31,  1748,  to  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  : 

"  As  to  our  Embryo  College,  it  is  a  noble  design,  and  if  God  pleases  may  prove 
an  extensive  blessing.  I  have  adopted  it  for  a  daughter,  which  I  hope  in  time  may 
become  an  Alma  Mater  to  this  and  the  neighboring  Provinces.  ...  I  am  getting 
the  best  advice  and  assistance  I  can  in  a  draft  of  a  charter  which  I  intend  to  give 
our  Infant  College ;  and  I  thank  you  for  all  the  kind  hints  you  have  given  for  the 
service  of  this  excellent  undertaking,"  etc. 

This  is  conclusive  as  to  the  fact  that  the  charter  was  not 
matured  at  the  date  of  this  letter,  May  31. 

June  1 8,  1748,  to  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent.  In  this  letter 
the  Governor  alludes  to  the  first  charter,  viz.,  the  one  given  by 
President  Hamilton,  in  these  words  : 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be  more  satisfactory  to  a  majority  of  the  intended  Trustees  to 
proceed  on  the  old  Patent,  in  which  I  am  quite  easy."  And  he  adds,  "If  I  have 
any  further  to  do  in  the  matter,  I  shall  immediately  send  it  [the  charter]  to  Mr. 
Gillnawary  of  your  city  [Philadelphia]  to  be  engrossed,  who  I  think  did  the  last." 

This  extract  shows  that  the  charter  had  not  been  engrossed 
as  late  as  the  :8th  of  June. 

Extracts  from  other  letters,  showing  the  same  facts,  might  be 


THE    CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   1748.  85 

given ;  but  the  above  will  probably  be  regarded  as  more  than 
sufficient  to  establish  these  two  points:  I,  that  the  charter  given 
by  Governor  Belcher  could  not  have  been  sent  to  England  for 
the  King's  approbation  before  its  delivery  to  the  Trustees ;  and, 
2,  that  it  was  given,  not  for  a  new  college,  but  for  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  already  established  and  in  operation,  under  a 
charter  granted,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  by  President  Hamil- 
ton, of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  New  Jersey.  It  is  not  for  a 
new  institution,  but  for  a  new  charter,  that  we  are  indebted  to 
Governor  Belcher.  An  infant  is  not  a  nonentity,  nor  a  some- 
thing that  is  to  be,  but  a  reality,  a  thing  in  actual  existence. 
So  in  this  case,  the  infant  College  of  New  Jersey,  the  adopted 
daughter  of  the  Governor,  was  in  being  and  engaged  in  its 
appropriate  work  before  Governor  Belcher  gave  it  "  a  new  and 
better  charter,"  and  even  before  his  arrival  in  the  Province. 
The  charter  of  1748  doubtless  gave  increased  vigor  to  the 
institution,  and  added  largely  to  the  number  of  its  friends. 
Under  this  new  charter  the  College  became,  what  its  name 
indicates  it  aspired  to  be,  "  The  College  of  New  Jersey,"  and 
not  simply  of  East  Jersey,  sending  abroad  throughout  the  land 
a  wholesome  influence  for  the  promotion  of  genuine  piety  and 
sound  learning.  Under  this  charter  additions  were  made  to 
the  number  of  the  Trustees,  by  introducing  into  the  Board 
several  distinguished  ministers  and  laymen  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey, — and  among  these  the  most  prominent  members 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  New  Brunswick  and  of  New  Castle, — 
and  thus  securing  to  the  College  the  friendship  and  patronage 
of  the  entire  Synod  of  New  York. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  reason  why  the  first  charter 
was  never  recorded  was  this,  that  its  grants  were  of  so  limited 
a  character  that  the  founders  of  the  College  were  much  dis- 
satisfied with  it,  and,  knowing  that  Governor  Belcher  was  to  be 
the  Governor  of  the  Province,  they  hoped  that  he  would  give 
them  one  with  ampler  powers  and  privileges.  Dr.  Green,  in 
his  Sketch  of  the  Origin  and  Design  of  the  College,  takes 
this  view  of  the  matter ;  and  most  others,  if  not  all,  who  have 
had  occasion  to  advert  to  it  have  done  the  same.  Had  they 
ever  met  with  the  advertisement  respecting  the  College  inserted 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

in  the  "New  York  Gazette"  of  February  2,  1746-7,  they  would 
have  seen  that  the  conjecture  was  not  well  founded  as  to  any 
dissatisfaction  with  the  charter  granted  by  President  Hamilton. 
Had  there  been  any  such  dissatisfaction,  the  Trustees  in  their 
notice  to  the  public  could  not  have  used  the  language  they  did: 
"  Whereas  a  charter  with  full  and  ample  Privileges  has  been 
granted  by  his  Majesty,  under  the  seal  of  the  Province  of 
New  Jersey,  bearing  date  the  22d  of  October,  1746,  for  erecting 
a  college  within  said  Province,  ...  by  which  charter  equal 
Liberties  and  Privileges  are  secured  to  every  denomination  of 
Christians,  different  religious  sentiments  notwithstanding,"  etc. 
There  is  some  evidence  that  the  charter  was  drawn  by  the 
petitioners,  and  that  they  obtained  all  they  asked  for.  (See 
chap,  i.,  "  On  the  Origin  of  the  College,"  page  44.)  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  acknowledgment  by  the  Trustees,  that 
they  had  received  a  charter  of  the  description  just  mentioned, 
takes  away  entirely  the  foundation  of  the  above  conjecture  as 
to  the  reason  why  the  first  charter  was  not  recorded. 

Was  the  second  charter  left  unrecorded  for  two  years  or  more 
because  of  any  dissatisfaction  with  it  ? 

The  first  charter  may  not  have  been  in  all  respects  as  liberal 
as  the  second ;  but  in  what  the  second  differed  from  the  first, 
excepting  with  respect  to  the  larger  number  of  Trustees,  and 
in  making  the  Governor  of  the  Province  for  the  time  being 
President  of  the  Board,  can  now  be  only  a  matter  of  conjec- 
ture. Possibly  the  first  charter  was  more  restrictive  as  to  the 
power  of  conferring  degrees,  and  as  to  the  amount  of  pro- 
ductive property  which  the  Trustees  were  permitted  to  hold. 
In  its  liberal  provision  for  the  admission  of  all  classes  of  Chris- 
tians to  the  privileges  of  the  College,  the  first  was  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  second;  and,  in  fact,  the  language  of  the  second 
as  to  this  matter  is  evidently  taken  from  the  first.  The  reference 
in  the  second  charter  to  the  concessions  of  Carteret,  seemingly 
for  the  purpose  of  assigning  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  why 
all  should  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  College,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  was  also  probably 
intended  to  meet,  by  indirection,  the  objection  to  granting  cor- 
porate powers  to  a  body  of  Dissenters ;  the  right  to  do  which 


THE    CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND  1748.  87 

had  been  called  in  question  upon  an  application  for  a  church 
charter  for  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  connection  in  which  these  things  occur  in  the 
second  charter  renders  it  highly  probable  that  the  provision 
for  admitting  all  classes  of  Christians,  and  the  reference  to 
the  concessions  of  Carteret,  were  both  borrowed  from  the  first 
charter. 

William  Smith,  the  most  distinguished  lawyer  of  his  day 
in  New  York,  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  that  city.  For  reasons  given  near  the  beginning  of 
this  chapter,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  was  a  Trustee  of 
the  College  under  both  charters  ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  improb- 
able that  he  prepared  the  first  charter,  and  also  "the  rough"  of 
the  second,  which  Governor  Belcher  desired  Mr.  Pemberton  to 
send  him  for  his  inspection.  There  was  no  person  among  Mr. 
Pemberton's  friends  better,  if  so  well,  qualified  to  do  this  work, 
and  no  one  upon  .whom  Mr.  Pemberton  would  be  so  likely  to 
call  for  just  such  a  service.  For  many  years,  and  to  the  end 
of  his  life,  Mr.  Smith  was  an  earnest  friend  of  the  College,  and 
one  of  the  most  honored  and  influential  members  of  the  Board. 

Governor  Belcher  was  disposed  to  possess  himself  of  the 
views  and  wishes  of  those  interested  in  the  College,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  purposed  to  mould  the  charter  to  suit  his  own 
views ;  and  therefore,  while  he  sought,  and  in  some  cases  ac- 
cepted, advice,  he  desired  not  to  have  a  charter  fully  prepared 
for  his  approval  and  signature,  but  only  the  "  rough"  of  one, 
which  he  might  examine  and  see  if  it  could  be  made  better. 
He  was  to  give  "  a  new  and  better  charter,"  and  he  must  decide 
for  himself  what  that  new  and  better  charter  must  be ;  and  to 
this  end  he  had  it  prepared  under  his  own  direction,  as  is  fully 
evident  from  his  letters  to  Messrs.  Pemberton  and  others.  He 
introduced  in  the  second  charter  the  clause  making  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Province  ex  officio  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  some  of  the  friends  of  the 
College  and  the  earnest  remonstrance  of  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent.  But  the  Governor  was  inflexible  as  to  this  point,  and 
said  he  could  not  give  a  charter  without  such  a  provision.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Tennent,  or  any  other  friend  of 


88  HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  College,  had  any  objection  to  making  Governor  Belcher 
President  of  the  Board :  the  objection  was  to  establishing  it 
as  a  fixed  rule  that  the  Governor  for  the  time  being  should 
be  President  of  the  Board.  The  opposition  to  this  measure 
doubtless  arose  from  an  apprehension  that  it  would  sometimes 
happen  that  the  Governor  would  not  be  in  sympathy  with  the 
Trustees,  and  that  he  might  embarrass  their  deliberations,  even 
if  he  should  not  directly  oppose  their  measures.  But  the  ex- 
perience of  more  than  a  hundred  years  has  shown  that  there 
was  no  sufficient  cause  for  any  such  apprehension,  and  that  the 
measure  has  worked  to  the  advantage  of  the  College,  and  not 
to  its  injury.  It  is  but  right  that  the  State  to  which  the  College 
is  indebted  for  its  corporate  privileges,  and  which  has  a  deep 
interest  in  the  proper  training  of  her  youth,  should  be  repre- 
sented at  the  Board  and  have  a  voice  in  directing  the  affairs  of 
the  institution  ;  and  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  State  seems 
to  be  the  proper  person  to  represent  her  in  her  highest  seats  of 
learning,  and  to  see  that  the  interests  of  the  State  are  properly 
cared  for  and  the  directions  of  the  charter  properly  observed. 
From  a  remark  made  by  Governor  Belcher  in  his  letter  of 
April  2,  1748,  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
Governor  would  have  been  disposed  to  make  several  members 
of  Council  ex  officio  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  as  well 
as  the  Governor  of  the  Province,  for  in  this  letter  he  says : 

"  As  to  the  matter  of  the  President  of  the  Trustees,  I  think  Mr.  Burr  was  con- 
vinced with  what  I  said,  that  it  would  be  best  to  be  always  the  King's  Governor 
for  the  time  being,  which  may  be  of  service  on  many  accounts.  He  is  to  be  con- 
fined to  a  single  vote,  nor  is  he  to  call,  or  adjourn,  a  meeting  but  in  conformity  to 
the  constitution.  It  is  now  thirty  years  since  my  first  being  one  of  the  Trustees 
of  Harvard  College,  by  virtue  of  my  being  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  the 
Massachusetts  Bay.  I  could  never  observe  any  Inconvenience  in  that  part  of  the 
Charter.  However,  I  will  consider  and  talk  further  with  some  of  the  Trustees  on 
this  article." 

The  first  four  persons  named  as  Trustees  of  the  College  in 
the  charter  given  by  Governor  Belcher  were  members  of  his 
Majesty's  Council  for  New  Jersey,  but  they  were  not  Trustees 
ex  officio,  but  by  special  designation.  There  was  probably  an 
earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  College  to 
have  these  gentlemen  for  Trustees,  but  they  never  would  have 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   1745.  gg 

assented  to  have  their  successors  in  his  Majesty's  Council  to  be 
ex  officio  their  successors  in  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  Col- 
lege was  a  Presbyterian  College,  established  by  Presbyterians, 
supported  by  Presbyterians,  and  controlled  by  Presbyterians, 
and  they  never  would  have  consented  to  run  the  risk  that  might 
arise,  either  to  the  religious  or  Presbyterian  character  of  their 
institution,  from  having  so  large  a  number  of  the  Board  chosen, 
not  by  the  other  Trustees,  but  by  the  civil  power.  Knowing 
the  feeling  on  this  subject  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the 
College,  Governor  Belcher,  even  if  willing  to  make  sundry 
members  of  the  Council  ex  officio  members  of  the  Board,  was 
content  with  carrying  out  his  plan  of  making  the  Governor 
for  the  time  being  President  of  the  Board.  In  doing  this  he 
did  the  College  good  service.  Had  he  gone  further  in  this 
direction,  he  would  have  turned  away  from  the  College  some 
of  those  who  proved  to  be  among  its  most  efficient  friends  and 
advocates. 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  letter  of  Rev.  Jonathan 
Edwards  to  Rev.  Dr.  John  Erskine,  of  Scotland,  of  the  date 
of  May  20,  1749,  and  written  from  Northampton: 

"  I  have  heard  nothing  new  that  is  very  remarkable  concerning  the  College  in 
New  Jersey.  It  is  in  its  infancy ;  there  has  been  considerable  difficulty  about 
settling  their  charter.  Governor  Belcher,  who  gave  the  charter,  is  willing  to  en- 
courage and  promote  the  College  to  his  utmost,  but  differs  in  his  opinion  concern- 
ing the  Constitution  which  will  tend  most  to  its  prosperity  from  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal ministers  that  have  been  concerned  in  founding  the  Society.  He  insists  upon 
it  that  the  Governor  for  the  time  being  and  four  of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  the 
Province  should  always  be  of  the  Corporation  of  Trustees,  and  that  the  Governor 
should  always  be  the  President  of  the  Corporation.  The  ministers  are  all  very 
willing  that  the  present  Governor,  who  is  a  religious  man,  should  be  in  this  stand- 
ing ;  but  their  difficulty  is  with  respect  to  the  future  Governors,  who  they  suppose 
are  as  likely  to  be  men  of  no  religion  and  Deists  as  otherwise.  However,  so  the 
matter  is  settled,  to  the  great  uneasiness  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent,  who,  it  is  feared, 
will  have  no  further  concern  with  the  College  on  this  account.  Mr.  Burr,  the 
President  of  the  College,  is  a  man  of  religion  and  singular  learning,  and  I  hope 
the  College  will  flourish  under  his  care." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  gentlemen  named  in  the  charter 
given  by  President  Hamilton  in  1746,  as  far  as  positive  evidence 
exists  on  this  head,  viz.,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John   Pierson, 
Ebenezer  Pemberton,  and  Aaron  Burr. 
VOL.  i. — 7 


90          HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Trustees  named  in  the  charter 
given  by  Governor  Belcher  in  1748,  viz.,  John  Reading,  James 
Hude,  Andrew  Johnston,  Thomas  Leonard,  John  Kinsey,  Ed- 
ward Shippen,  William  Smith,  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston, 
William  Peartree  Smith,  Samuel  Hazard,  John  Pierson,  Eben- 
ezer  Pemberton,  Joseph  Lamb,  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Ten- 
nent,  Richard  Treat,  Samuel  Blair,  David  Cowell,  Aaron  Burr, 
Timothy  Johnes,  Thomas  Arthur,  and  Jacob  Green. 

As  already  shown,  it  is  very  probable  that  at  least  nine  of  the 
gentlemen  here  named  were  Trustees  under  the  first  charter. 

CHARTER   OF   THE   COLLEGE   OF   NEW   JERSEY. 

GEORGE  THE  SECOND,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Ireland,  king,  defender  of  the  faith,  &c.,  to  all  to  whom  these 
presents  shall  come,  greeting — 

Preamble.  WHEREAS  sundry  of  our  loving  subjects,  well-disposed  and  public- 

spirited  persons,  have  lately,  by  their  humble  petition,  presented  to  our 
trusty  and  well-beloved  Jonathan  Belcher,  Esquire,  governor  and  com- 
mander in  chief  of  our  province  of  New  Jersey  in  America,  represented 
the  great  necessity  of  coming  into  some  method  for  encouraging  and 
promoting  a  learned  education  of  our  youth  in  New  Jersey,  and  have 
expressed  their  earnest  desire  that  a  college  may  be  erected  in  our  said 
province  of  New  Jersey  in  America,  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  said  province  and  others,  wherein  youth  may  be  instructed  in 
the  learned  languages,  and  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences.  AND 
WHEREAS  by  the  fundamental  concessions  made  at  the  first  settlement 
of  New  Jersey  by  the  Lord  Berkley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  then 
proprietors  thereof,  and  granted  under  their  hands  and  the  seal  of  the 
said  province,  bearing  date  the  tenth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-four,  it  was,  among  other 
things,  conceded  and  agreed,  that  no  freeman  within  the  said  province 
of  New  Jersey  should  at  any  time  be  molested,  punished,  disquieted  or 
called  in  question,  for  any  difference  in  opinion  or  practice  in  matters 
of  religious  concernment,  who  do  not  actually  disturb  the  civil  peace 
of  the  said  province ;  but  that  all  and  every  such  person  or  persons 
might,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  thereafter,  freely  and  fully 
have  and  enjoy  his  and  their  judgments  and  consciences,  in  matters  of 
religion,  throughout  the  said  province,  they  behaving  themselves  peace- 
ably and  quietly  and  not  using  this  liberty  to  licentiousness,  nor  to  the 
civil  injury  or  outward  disturbance  of  others,  as  by  the  said  concessions 
on  record  in  the  secretary's  office  of  New  Jersey,  at  Perth  Amboy,  in 
lib.  3,  folio  66,  &c.,  may  appear.  WHEREFORE  and  for  that  the  said 
petitioners  have  also  expressed  their  earnest  desire  that  those  of  every 


THE    CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND   i748.  gt 

religious  denomination  may  have  free  and  equal  liberty  and  advantages 
of  education  in  the  said  college,  any  different  sentiments  in  religion 
notwithstanding.  WE  being  willing  to  grant  the  reasonable  requests 
and  prayers  of  all  our  loving  subjects,  and  to  promote  a  liberal  and 
learned  education  among  them — 

KNOW  YE  THEREFORE,  that  we,  considering  the  premises,  and  being 
willing  for  the  future  that  the  best  means  of  education  be  established  in 
our  said  province  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  benefit  and  advantage  of  the 
inhabitants  of  our  said  province  and  others,  do,  of  our  special  grace, 
certain  knowledge  and  mere  motion,  by  these  presents,  will,  ordain, 
grant  and  constitute,  that  there  be  a  college  erected  in  our  said  prov-  College 
ince  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  education  of  youth  in  the  learned  Ian-  founded, 
guages  and  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences  ;*  and  that  the  trustees  of  Trustees  a 
the  said  college  and  their  successors  for  ever,  may  and  shall  be  one  corporation, 
body  corporate  and  politic,  in  deed,  action  and  name,  and  shall  be 
called,  and  named  and  distinguished,  by  the  name  of  THE  TRUSTEES  Corporate 
OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY — and   further,  we  have  willed,  name- 
given,   granted,    constituted   and  appointed,  and  by  this  our  present 
charter,  of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion,  we 
do,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  will,  give,  grant,  constitute,  and 
ordain,  that  there  shall,  in  the  said  college  from  henceforth  for  ever,  be  Charter  per- 
a  body  politic,  consisting  of  trustees  of  the  said  College  of  New  Jersey,  petnal. 
And  for  the  more  full  and  perfect  erection  of  the  said  corporation  and 
body  politic,  consisting  of  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  we, 
of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  motion,  do,  by  these 
presents,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  create,  make,  ordain,  consti- 
tute, nominate  and  appoint,  the  governor  and  commander  in  chief  of 
our  said  province  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  time  being,  and  also  our  trusty 
and   well-beloved   John    Reading,   James    Hude,    Andrew  Johnston,  Names  of 
Thomas  Leonard,  John  Kinsey,  Edward  Shippen  and  William  Smith,  corporators. 
Esquires,  Peter  Van-Brugh  Livingston,  William  Peartree  Smith  and 
Samuel  Hazard,  gentlemen,  John  Pierson,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  Joseph 
Lamb,  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent,  Richard  Treat,  Samuel  Blair, 
David  Cowell,  Aaron  Burr,  Timothy  Johnes,  Thomas  Arthur  and  Jacob 
Green,  ministers  of  the  gospel,  to  be  trustees  of  the  said  College  of 
New  Jersey. 

That  the  said  trustees  do,  at  their  first  meeting,  after  the  receipt  of  Oaths  to  be 
these  presents,  and  before  they  proceed  to  any  business,  take  the  oath  taken  by 
appointed  to  be  taken  by  an  act,  passed  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  tr 
of  the  late  king  George  the  First,  entitled,  "  An  act  for  the  further 
security  of  his  Majesty's  person  and  government,  and    the  succession 
of  the  crown  in  the  heirs  of  the  late  princess  Sophia,  being  protest- 
ants,  and   for   extinguishing  the    hopes   of  the  pretended   prince  of 
Wales  and  his  open  and  secret  abettors ;"  as  also  that  they  make  and 
subscribe  the  declarations  mentioned  in  an  act  of  parliament,  made 

*  Extended  by  the  Act  of  March  n,  1864. 


p2          HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  king  Charles  the  Second, 
entitled  "  An  act  for  preventing  dangers  which  may  happen  from 
popish  recusants ;"  and  likewise  take  an  oath  for  faithfully  executing 
By  whom  the  office  or  trust  reposed  in  them,  the  said  oaths  to  be  administered 
oaths  to  be  to  them  by  three  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace,  quorum  unus  ; 
and  when  any  new  member  or  officer  of  this  corporation  is  chosen, 
they  are  to  take  and  subscribe  the  aforementioned  oaths  and  declara- 
tions before  their  admission  into  their  trusts  or  offices,  the  same  to  be 
administered  to  them  in  the  presence  of  the  trustees,  by  such  person 
as  they  shall  appoint  for  that  service.* 

Notice  of  That  no  meeting  of  the  trustees  shall  be  valid  or  legal  for  doing  any 

meeting  of     business  whatsoever,  unless  the  clerk  has  duly  and  legally  notified  each 

ees'         and  every  member  of  the  corporation  of  such  meeting ;  and  that  before 

the  entering  on  any  business,  the  clerk  shall  certify  such  notification 

under  his  hand,  to  the  board  of  trustees. 

To  fill  va-  That  the  said  trustees  have  full  power  and  authority  or  any  ^thirteen 

cancies.          or  greater  number  of  them,  to  elect,  nominate  and  appoint,  and  asso- 
ciate unto  them,  any  number  of  persons  as  trustees  upon  any  vacancy, 
Number  of     so  that  the  whole  number  of  trustees  exceed  not  ^twenty-three,  whereof 
trustees.         tne  president  of  said  college  for  the  time  being,  to  be  chosen  as  here- 
after mentioned,  to  be  one,  and  twelve  of  the  said  trustees  to  be  always 
Residence.     sucn  persons  as  are  inhabitants  of  our  said  province  of  New  Jersey.    And 
we  do  further,  of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  mo- 
tion, for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  will,  give,  grant  and  appoint,  -that 
Perpetual       the  gajj  trustees  and  their  successors  shall,  for  ever  hereafter,  be  in 
deed,  fact  and  name,  a  body  corporate  and  politic ;  and  that  they,  the 
said  body  corporate  and  politic,  shall  be  known  and  distinguished  in 
all  deeds,  grants,  bargains,  sales,  writings,  evidences,  muniments  or 
otherwise  howsoever,  and  in  all  courts  for  ever  herereafter,  plead  and 
be  impkaded,  by  the  name  of  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF 
NEW  JERSEY. 

Property.  And  that  they  the  said  corporation,  by  the  name  aforesaid,  shall  be 

able  and  in  law  capable,  for  the  use  of  the  said  college,  to  have,  get,  ac- 
quire, purchase,  receive  and  possess  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments, 
jurisdictions  and  franchises,  for  themselves  and  their  successors,  in  fee 
simple  or  otherwise  howsoever ;  and  to  purchase,  receive  or  build,  any 
house  or  houses,  or  any  other  buildings,  as  they  shall  think  needful  or 
convenient  for  the  use  of  the  said  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  in  such 
place  or  places  in  New  Jersey,  as  they  the  said  trustees  shall  agree 
upon,  and  also  to  receive  and  dispose  of  any  goods,  chattels,  and 

*  The  entire  clause  relative  to  oaths  repealed  and  supplied  by  Act  of 
March  13,  1780. 

f  Altered  to  nine,  provided  that  the  Governor  of  the  State,  or  the 
President  of  the  College,  or  the  senior  Trustee,  be  one  of  the  nine ;  by 
the  Act  of  November  2,  1781,  p.  18. 

J  Altered  to  twenty-seven  by  the  Act  of  April  6,  1868. 


THE   CHARTERS   OF  1746  AND  1748.  93 

other  things  of  what  nature  soever,  for  the  use  aforesaid :  and  also  to 
have,  accept  and  receive  any  rents,  profits,  annuities,  gifts,  legacies, 
donations  and  bequests  of  any  kind  whatsoever,  for  the  use  aforesaid, 
so,  nevertheless,  that  the   yearly  clear  value  of  the  premises  do  not  Limitation 
exceed  the  sum  of  * two  thousand  pounds  sterling  :     And  therewith  or  of  value  of 
otherwise  to  support  and  pay,  as  the  said  trustees  and  their  successors, 
or  the  major  part  of  such  of  them  as  (according  to  the  provision  herein 
afterwards)  are  regularly  convened  for  that  purpose,  shall  agree  and 
see  cause,  the  president,  tutors  and  other  officers  or  ministers  of  the 
said  college,  their  respective  annual  salaries  or  allowances,  and  all  Salaries, 
such  other  necessary  and  contingent  charges  as  from  time  to  time  shall 
arise  and  accrue,  relating  to  the  said  college ;  and  also  to  grant,  bar- 
gain, sell,  let,  set  or  assign,  lands,  tenements  or  hereditaments,  goods 
or  chattels,  contract  or  do  all  other  things  whatsoever,  by  the  name  Contracts, 
aforesaid,  and  for  the  use  aforesaid,  in  as  full  and  ample  manner,  to  all 
intent  and  purposes,  as  any  natural  person  or  other  body  politic  or  cor- 
porate is  able  to  do,  by  the  laws  of  our  realm  of  Great  Britain,  or  of 
our  said  province  of  New  Jersey. 

And  of  our  further  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  motion,  to  the  Who  to  pre- 
intent  that  our  said  corporation  and  body  politic  may  answer  the  end  side- 
of  their  erection  and  constitution,  and  may  have  perpetual  succession 
and  continue  for  ever,  WE  do  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  hereby 
will,  give  and  grant,  unto  the  said  trustees  of  the  College  of   New 
Jersey,  and  to  their  successors  for  ever,  that  when  any  thirteen  of  the 
said  trustees  or  of  their  successors  are  convened  and  met  together  as 
aforesaid,  for  the  service  of  the  said  college,  the  governor  and  com- 
mander in  chief  of  our  said  province  of   New  Jersey,  and  in  his 
absence,  the  president  of  the  said  college,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
said  governor  and  president,  the  eldest  trustee  present  at  such  meeting, 
from  time  to  time,  shall  be  president  of  the  said  trustees  in  all  their 
meetings :  and  at  any  time  or  times  such  thirteen  trustees  convened  Q 
and  met  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  capable  to  act  as  fully  and  amply,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  if  all  the  trustees  of  the  said  college  were  per- 
sonally present ;  provided  always,  that  a  majority  of  the  said  thirteen 
trustees  be  of  the  said  province  of  New  Jersey,  except  after  regular  notice 
they  fail  of  coming,  in  which  case  those  that  are  present  are  hereby 
empowered  to  act,  the  different  place  of  their  abode  notwithstanding ; 
and  all  affairs,  and  actions  whatsoever,  under  the  care  of  the  said  trus- 
tees, shall  be  determined  by  the  majority  or  greater  number  of  those  quorum  to 
thirteen,  so  convened  and  met  together,  the  president  whereof  shall  decide, 
have  no  more  than  a  single  vote. 

And  we  do  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  hereby  will,  give  and  Meetings, 
grant,  full  power  and  authority,  to  any  six  or  more  of  the  said  trustees,  how  called, 
to  call  meetings  of  the  said  trustees,  from  time  to  time,  and  to  order 

*  Altered  to  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  by  the  Act  of  March  1 1 , 
1864. 


94          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

notice  to  the  said  trustees  of  the  times  and  places  of  meeting  for  the 
service  aforesaid. 

Election  of         And  also  we  do  hereby  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  will,  give 
President.      anci  grant,  to  the  said  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  to 
their  successors  for  ever,  that  the  said  trustees  do  elect,  nominate  and 
appoint  such  a  qualified  person  as  they,  or  the  major  part  of  any  thirteen 
of  them  convened  for  that  purpose  as  above  directed,  shall  think  fit,  to 
be  the  president  of  the  said  college,  and  to  have  the  immediate  care  of 
the  education  and  government  of  such  students  as  shall  be  sent  to,  and 
admitted  into  the  said  college  for  instruction  and  education ;  and  also 
Tutors  and    that  the  said  trustees  do  elect,  nominate  and  appoint  so  many  tutors 
Professors.     ancj  professors,  to  assist  the  president  of  the  said  college,  in  the  educa- 
tion and  government  of  the  students  belonging  to  it,  as  they,  the  said 
trustees,  or  their  successors,  or  the  major  part  of  any  thirteen  of  them, 
which  shall  convene  for  that  purpose  as  above  directed,  shall,  from  time 
to  time,  and  at  any  time  hereafter,  think  needful  and  serviceable  to  the 
interests  of  the  said  college ;  and  also,  that  the  said  trustees  and  their 
successors,  or  the  major  part  of  any  -thirteen  of  them,  which  shall  con- 
Power  of  re-  vene  for  that  purpose,  as  above  directed,  shall  at  any  time  displace  and 
moval.  discharge  from  the  service  of  the  said  college  such  president,  tutors  and 

professors,  and  to  elect  others  in  their  room  and  stead ;  and  also,  that 
Other  offi-  *ne  sa'^  trustees  or  their  successors,  or  the  major  part  of  any  thirteen 
cers.  of  them,  which  shall  convene  for  that  pupose,  as  above  directed,  do 

from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  shall  require,  elect,  constitute  and  appoint 
a  treasurer,  a  clerk,  an  usher,  and  a  steward,  for  the  said  college, 
and  appoint  to  them,  and  each  of  them,  their  respective  business  and 
trusts,  and  displace  and  discharge  from  the  service  of  the  said  college 
such  treasurer,  clerk,  usher  or  steward,  and  to  elect  others  in  their 
Powers  of  room  and  stead ;  which  president,  tutors,  professors,  treasurer,  clerk, 
officers.  usher  and  steward,  so  elected  and  appointed,  we  do  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors,  by  these  presents,  constitute  and  establish  in  their  sev- 
eral offices,  and  do  give  them,  and  every  of  them,  full  power  and 
authority  to  exercise  the  same  in  the  said  College  of  New  Jersey, 
according  to  the  direction,  and  during  the  pleasure  of  the  said  trustees, 
as  fully  and  freely  as  any  other,  the  like  officers  in  our  universities  or 
any  of  our  colleges,  in  our  realm  of  Great  Britain,  lawfully  may  and 
ought  to  do. 

Election  of  And  also  that  the  said  trustees,  and  their  .successors,  or  the  major 
trustees.  part  of  any  thirteen  of  them,  which  shall  convene  for  that  purpose  as 
above  directed,  as  often  as  one  or  more  of  the  said  trustees  shall  hap- 
pen to  die,  or  by  removal  or  otherwise  shall  become  unfit  or  incapable, 
according  to  their  judgment,  to  serve  the  interest  of  the  said  college, 
do,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  after  the  death,  removal  or  such 
unfitness  or  incapacity  of  such  trustee  or  trustees  to  serve  the  interest  of 
the  said  college,  elect  and  appoint  such  other  trustee  or  trustees  as  shall 
supply  the  place  of  him  or  them  so  dying,  or  otherwise  becoming  unfit 
or  incapable  to  serve  the  interest  of  the  said  college ;  and  every  trustee 


THE    CHARTERS  OF  1746  AND  1748.  95 

so  elected  and  appointed  shall,  by  virtue  of  these  presents,  and  of  such 
election,  and  appointment,  be  vested  with  all  the  power  and  privileges 
which  any  of  the  other  trustees  of  the  said  college  are  hereby  invested 
with. 

And  we  do  further,  of  our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  Laws  for  the 
motion,  will,  give  and  grant,  and  by  these  presents  do,  for  us,  our  heirs  government 
and  successors,  will,  give  and  grant,  unto  the  said  trustees  of  the  Col-  ' 
lege  of  New  Jersey,  that  they  and  their  successors,  or  the  major  part  of 
any  thirteen  of  them,  which  shall  convene  for  that  purpose  as  above 
directed,  may  make,  and  they  are  hereby  fully  empowered  from  time 
to  time,  freely  and  lawfully  to  make  and  establish  such  ordinances, 
orders  and  laws,  as  may  tend  to  the  good  and  wholesome  government 
of  the  said  college,  and  all  the  students  and  the  several  officers  and  min- 
isters thereof,  and  to  the  public  benefit  of  the  same,  not  repugnant  to 
the  laws  and  statutes  of  our  realm  of  Great  Britain,  or  of  this  our  prov- 
ince of  New  Jersey,  and  not  excluding  any  person  of  any  religious  de- 
nomination whatsoever  from  free  and  equal  liberty  and  advantage  of 
education,  or  from  any  of  the  liberties,  privileges,  or  immunities  of  the 
said  college,  on  account  of  his  or  their  being  of  a  religious  profession 
different  from  the  said  trustees  of  the  said  college ;  and  such  ordi- 
nances, orders  and  laws,  which  shall  be  so  as  aforesaid  made,  we  do, 
by  these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  ratify,  allow  of  and 
confirm,  as  good  and  effectual,  to  oblige  and  bind  all  the  said  students 
and  the  several  officers  and  ministers  of  the  said  college ;  and  we  do 
hereby  authorize  and  empower  the  said  trustees  of  the  college,  and  the 
president,  tutors  and  professors  by  them  elected  and  appointed,  to  put 
such  ordinances  and  laws  in  execution,  to  all  proper  intents  and  pur- 
poses. 

And  we  do  further,  of  our  especial  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  Degrees, 
mere  motion,  will,  give  and  grant,  unto  the  said  trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  that,  for  the  encouragement  of  learning  and  animating 
the  students  of  the  said  college  to  diligence,  industry,  and  a  laudable 
progress  in  literature,  that  they  and  their  successors,  or  the  major  part 
of  any  thirteen  of 'them,  convened  for  that  purpose  as  above  directed, 
do,  by  the  president  of  the  said  college  for  the  time  being,  or  by  any 
other  deputed  by  them,  give  and  grant  any  such  degree  and  degrees 
to  any  of  the  students  of  the  said  college,  or  to  any  others  by  them 
thought  worthy  thereof,  as  are  usually  granted  in  either  of  our  univer- 
sities or  any  other  college  in  our  realm  of  Great  Britain  ;*  and  that 
they  do  sign  and  seal  diplomas  or  certificates  of  such  graduations,  Diplomas, 
to  be  kept  by  the  graduates  as  perpetual  memorials  or  testimonials 
thereof. 

And  further,  of  our  especial  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  mo-  Seal. 
tion,  we  do,  by  these  presents,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  give  and 
grant  unto  the  said  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  to  their 

*  Extended  by  the  Act  of  March  29,  1866. 


96          HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

successors,  that  they  and  their  successors  shall  have  a  common  seal, 
under  which  they  may  pass  all  diplomas,  certificates  of  degrees,  and 
all  other  the  affairs  and  business  of  and  concerning  the  said  corporation, 
or  of  and  concerning  the  said  College  of  New  Jersey,  which  shall  be 
engraven  in  such  form  and  with  such  inscription  as  shall  be  devised 
by  the  said  trustees  of  the  said  college,  or  the  major  part  of  any  thir- 
teen of  them,  convened  for  the  service  of  the  said  college  as  above 
directed. 

Inferior  offi-  And  we  do  further,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant 
unto  the  said  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  their  succes- 
sors, or  the  major  part  of  any  thirteen  of  them,  convened  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  college  as  above  directed,  full  power  and  authority  from 
time  to  time,  to  nominate  and  appoint  all  other  inferior  officers  and 
ministers,  which  they  shall  think  to  be  convenient  and  necessary  for 
the  use  of  the  college,  not  herein  particularly  named  or  mentioned, 
and  which  are  accustomary  in  our  universities,  or  in  any  of  our  col- 
leges in  our  realm  of  Great  Britain,  which  officers  or  ministers  we  do 
hereby  empower  to  execute  their  offices  or  trusts  as  fully  and  freely 
as  any  other  the  like  officers  or  ministers,  in  and  of  our  universities 
or  any  other  college  in  our  realm  of  Great  Britain,  lawfully  may  or 
ought  to  do. 

And  lastly,  our  express  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do  by  these 
presents  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said 
trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  to  their  successors  for  ever, 
that  these  our  letters  patent,  or  the  enrolment  thereof,  shall  be  good 
and  effectual  in  the  law,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  against  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors,  without  any  other  license,  grant  or  confirmation 
from  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  hereafter  by  the  said  trustees  to  be 
had  or  obtained ;  notwithstanding  the  not  reciting  or  misrecital,  or  not 
naming  or  misnaming  of  the  aforesaid  offices,  franchises,  privileges,  im- 
munities, or  other  the  premises,  or  any  of  them:  and  notwithstanding  a 
writ  of  ad  quod  dantnum  hath  not  issued  forth  to  inquire  of  the  premises 
or  any  of  them,  before  the  ensealing  hereof;  any  statute,  act,  ordi- 
nance or  provision,  or  any  other  matter  or  thing  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding ;  to  have,  hold  and  enjoy,  all  and  singular  the  privi- 
leges, advantages,  liberties,  immunities  and  all  other  the  premises 
herein  and  hereby  granted  and  given,  or  which  are  meant,  men- 
tioned, or  intended  to  be  herein  and  hereby  given  and  granted,  unto 
them  the  said  trustees  of  the  said  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  to  their 
successors  for  ever. 

IN  TESTIMONY  whereof  we  have  caused  these  our  letters  to  be  made 
patent,  and  the  great  seal  of  our  said  province  of  New  Jersey  to  be 
hereunto  affixed.  WITNESS  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Jonathan 
Belcher,  Esquire,  governor  and  commander  in  chief  of  our  said  prov- 
ince of  New  Jersey,  this  fourteenth  day  of  September,  in  the  twenty- 
second  year  of  our  reign,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  forty-eight. 


THE    CHARTERS   OF  174.6  AND  1748. 

f  I  have  perused  and  considered  the  written   charter  of 

incorporation,  and  find  nothing  contained  therein  incon- 
sistent with  his   Majesty's  interest  or  the  honor  of  the 
^^^^^*     Crown. 

J.  WARRELL,  Aft.  Gen'!. 

September  the    I3th,   1748. — This   charter,  having  been   read   in 
Council,  was  consented  to  and  approved  of. 

CHA.  READ,  Cl.  Con. 

Let  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  be  affixed  to  this 
charter. 

J.  BELCHER. 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MEMOIR   OF  GOVERNOR   BELCHER,  AND   BRIEF  NOTICES  OF  THE 
TRUSTEES  NAMED   IN  THE  TWO   CHARTERS  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

THE  Governor  was  not,  properly  speaking,  the  founder  of  the 
College,  in  the  sense  of  being  its  originator,  for  the  College  was 
in  existence,  and  in  active  operation,  before  his  arrival.  He  was 
not,  therefore,  to  use  a  phrase  of  Lord  Coke's,  its  "  Fundator 
Incipiens"  although,  in  view  of  what  he  did  towards  the  build- 
ing up  of  the  institution,  he  may  be  regarded  as  its  "  Fundator 
Perficiens;"  and  in  this  latter  sense  only  can  the  statement  in 
one  of  the  addresses  of  the  Trustees  to  the  Governor  be  justified, 
when  they  assign  as  a  reason  why  the  first  College  edifice  should 
be  called  "Belcher  Hall,"  that  "the  College  of  New  Jersey 
views  you  in  the  light  of  its  founder,  patron,  and  benefactor." 
That  this  view  of  Governor  Belcher's  relations  to  the  College  is 
a  perfectly  accurate  one  is  evident  from  the  extracts  given  in 
this  work  from  his  letters  to  various  correspondents,  and  from 
his  replies  to  the  addresses  presented  to  him  by  the  Trustees  of 
the  College.  The  extracts  here  referred  to  are  those  given  in 
the  narrative  of  the  two  charters  of  1746  and  of  1748,  in  the 
chapter  on  the  Design  of  the  College,  and  in  the  History  of 
President  Burr's  Administration. 

Governor  Belcher  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Andrew  Belcher, 
of  Cambridge,  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  he  was  born  on  the  8th  of  January,  1682.  He  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1699;  and  soon  after  he  went  to 
Europe,  where  he  resided  six  years.  During  this  period  he 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  the  Princess  Sophia  Dorothea,  of 
Hanover,  and  with  her  son,  George  Augustus,  which  opened 
the  way  for  his  future  advancement,  upon  the  accession  of  this 
prince,  in  1727,  to  the  throne  of  England,  as  George  the  Second. 
98 


MEMOIR    OF  GOVERNOR  BELCHER.  gg 

On  his  return  he  married  and  settled  in  Boston,  where  he  be- 
came a  merchant  of  great  reputation  and  considerable  wealth. 
His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Lieutenant-Go vernor  Partridge,  of 
New  Hampshire.  She  died  on  the  1st  of  October,  1736.  He 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council,  and  in  1729 
he  was  sent  to  England  as  agent  of  the  Province ;  and  on  the 
2Qth  of  November  of  the  same  year  he  was  made  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  and  of  New  Hampshire,  which  office  he  held  for 
twelve  years.  Upon  becoming  Governor  he  relinquished  his 
mercantile  pursuits  and  devoted  himself  to  his  official  duties. 
His  home  was  distinguished  for  its  elegant  hospitality,  and  he 
is  said  to  have  impaired  his  private  fortune  in  upholding  the 
dignity  of  his  office,  of  which,  both  in  Massachusetts  and  in 
New  Jersey,  he  had  a  very  high  estimate. 

We  learn  from  President  Quincy's  "  History  of  Cambridge 
University"  that  Governor  Belcher,  as  Governor  Burnet  had 
done  before  him,  made  a  formal  and  public  visit  to  Harvard. 
Of  this  visit  the  President  gives  the  following  account : 

"  The  visit  of  Governor  Belcher  to  the  College  appears,  according  to  the  records, 
to  have  been  attended  with  like  ceremonies.  He  was,  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1730,  accompanied  to  Cambridge  by  a'' military  troop,  then  waited  on  by  two  com- 
panies of  foot.'  When  he  arrived  at  the  College,  after  having  been  for  a  while  in 
Mr.  Flynt's  chamber,  the  bell  tolled,  and  the  scholars  assembled  in  the  Hall,  into 
which  the  Governor  and  Corporation  having  entered,  Mr.  Hobby  made  a  Latin 
oration,  and  his  Excellency  made  a  very  handsome  answer  in  Latin.  This  done, 
and  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  his  Majesty's  Council,  the  Tutors,  Professors,  and 
sundry  gentlemen,  who  came  on  the  occasion,  dined  together  in  the  library,  with 
the  Corporation. 

"  These  forms  and  ceremonies,  of  the  last  and  preceding  age,"  adds  President 
Quincy,  "  are  interesting  as  characteristic  of  the  customs  and  manners  of  Massa- 
chusetts under  the  Colonial  and  Provincial  Governments." 

The  "  History  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey"  furnishes  ex- 
amples of  somewhat  similar  ceremonies,  on  occasions  of  the 
first  visits  made  to  the  College  by  the  Colonial  Governors. 

On  the  death  of  President  Wadsworth,  of  Harvard,  which 
occurred  on  the  i6th  of  March,  1737,  the  other  members  of  the 
Corporation  were  equally  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  proper 
person  to  be  chosen  his  successor,  one  half  being  in  favor  of 
electing  the  Rev.  Mr.  Holyoke,  a  minister  of  Marblehead,  and 


100        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  other  half  being  for  the  Rev.  Joshua  Gee,  whom  President 
Quincy  describes  as  a  man  of  considerable  genius,  not  deficient 
in  learning,  holding  all  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Calvin  with  a 
bigoted  pertinacity,  and  naturally  of  a  fiery  zeal,  which,  if  it 
had  not  been  quenched  by  constitutional  indolence,  would 
probably  have  rendered  him  a  firebrand  among  the  churches. 
Perhaps  this  description  of  a  rigid  Calvinistic  divine,  by  one  of 
such  liberal  views  in  matters  of  religion  as  President  Quincy, 
should  be  taken  cum  grano  salts.  Still,  it  may  be  sufficiently 
near  the  mark  to  account  for  Governor  Belcher's  influence  being 
finally  cast  in  favor  of  Mr.  Holyoke,  of  whose  thorough  Calvin- 
ism some  of  the  stricter  sort  stood  in  doubt,  without  ascribing 
the  Governor's  course  "  to  the  tact  of  a  politician,  who  saw 
clearly  that  the  times  of  denunciation  and  exclusion  were  fast 
passing  away,"  and  who  was  satisfied,  or  willing  to  appear  to  be 
convinced,  upon  the  sole  authority  of  Barnard"  (also  a  minister 
of  Marblehead,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Holyoke),  "  although 
the  terms  in  which  he  vouched  for  the  Calvinism  of  Holyoke 
placed  his  Catholicism  and  liberality  in  high  relief,  and  con- 
veyed a  severe  sarcasm  on  those  who  were  counteracting  his 
election  by  scattering  doubts  concerning  the  soundness  of  his 
principles."  Upon  hearing  Mr.  Barnard's  account  of  the  char- 
acter and  religious  views  of  Mr.  Holyoke,  Governor  Belcher  said, 
"Then  I  believe  he  must  be  the  man."  "And  accordingly," 
adds  President  Quincy,  "he  was  the  man,  and  was  elected  in 
both  Boards*  unanimously."  This  statement  shows  at  once 
the  sound  judgment  of  his  Excellency,  his  freedom  from  undue 
bias,  and  his  great  influence,  at  that  time,  in  shaping  the  meas- 
ures of  the  authorities  of  Harvard. 

Governor  Belcher  presided  at  the  inauguration  of  President 
Holyoke,  and  also  on  this  occasion  made  a  speech  in  Latin,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  delivered  to  the  President  the  charter, 
key,  etc.  The  President  replied  in  Latin.  Governor  Belcher's 


*  The  Boards  referred  to  above  were  the  Corporation,  consisting  of  the  President 
and  six  Fellows,  whose  privilege  it  was  to  nominate  the  officers  of  the  College,  and 
the  Board  of  Overseers,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  Deputy-Governor,  members  of 
the  Council,  and  others,  who  had  the  power  to  confirm  or  to  reject. 


MEMOIR    OF  GOVERNOR  BELCHER.  IOI 

course  with  respect  to  the  University  was  such  as  naturally 
tended  to  gratify  the  friends  of  the  institution  generally;  and 
had  he  been  equally  fortunate  in  pleasing  the  supporters  and 
opponents  of  his  administration,  he  might  possibly  have  held 
the  government  during  life.  But  his  insisting,  as  his  prede- 
cessors had  done,  that  a  sufficient  and  fixed  salary  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Governor  should  be  voted  by  the  General  Court, 
and  his  opposition  to  a  measure  known  as  "the  land  bank 
company,"  helped  to  undermine  his  influence  and  to  prepare 
the  way  for  his  removal.  As  the  representative  of  the  King,  he 
was  not  indisposed  to  exercise  all  the  authority  given  him  in  his 
commission ;  and  in  deciding  upon  the  course  he  ought  to  pursue 
in  reference  to  measures  bearing  upon  the  honor  of  the  Crown, 
the  welfare  of  the  Province,  or  the  interests  of  religion  and 
learning,  he  was  not  distrustful  of  his  own  judgment,  although 
as  to  particular  points  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  avail  himself  of 
the  opinions  of  others  whose  position,  ability,  and  good  sense 
commanded  his  respect  and  confidence;  and  sometimes,  though 
not  always,  he  yielded  his  own  judgment  to  theirs.  In  religion 
he  was  a  decided  Calvinist;  also  an  ardent  friend  to  revivals, 
and  a  favorite  of  those  engaged  in  promoting  them.  That  emi- 
nent evangelist,  the  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  was  most  kindly 
received  by  him,  both  in  Massachusetts  and  in  New  Jersey. 

His  freedom  in  the  utterance  of  his  opinions  was  very  marked, 
and  not  always  the  most  discreet;  and  this  is  said  to  have  been 
one  and  a  principal  cause  of  the  hostility  against  him  on  the 
part  of  those  who  succeeded  in  their  efforts  to  have  him  re- 
moved from  his  office  as  Governor  of  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire. 

That  he  had  been  misrepresented  by  his  political  enemies, 
he  gave  to  King's  Council,  at  the  English  Court,  such  clear 
evidence  that  he  was  promised  the  first  vacancy  in  the  guber- 
natorial chairs  of  the  American  Provinces;  and  happily  for  the 
interests  of  the  country,  and  more  especially  for  the  interests  of 
sound  learning  and  fervent  piety,  this  first  vacancy  occurred  in 
the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  in  which,  at  this  very  time,  efforts 
were  making  to  establish  the  institution  ever  since  known  as 
"  The  College  of  New  Jersey,"  although  it  is  not  unfrequently 


1O2        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

spoken  of  under  the  names  of  "  Princeton  College"  and  "  Nassau 
Hall." 

Upon  being  superseded  by  Governor  Shirley,  in  1741,  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  went  to  England,  and  did  not  return  to  America 
until  the  summer  of  1747,  when  he  came  back  with  the  commis- 
sion of  Captain-General  and  Governor  of  the  Province  of  New 
Jersey,  etc.  The  date  of  his  commission  was  that  of  July  18, 
1746,  and  it  was  approved  in  Council  August  22  of  that  same 
year ;  but  such  appear  to  have  been  the  straitened  circum- 
stances of  the  Governor  at  this  time,  that  he  was  unable  for 
many  months  to  pay  the  requisite  fees ;  and  for  the  funds  with 
which  they  were  paid  he  was  indebted  to  the  liberality  of  sundry 
persons,  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  in  England. 

Sailing  from  England  in  the  Scarborough,  an  English  vessel 
of  war,  he  arrived  here  on  the  8th  of  August,  1747,  after  a 
tedious  passage  of  nearly  ten  weeks;  and,  as  mentioned  by  him 
in  a  letter  of  the  i6th  of  September,  to  a  friend  in  London 
(Rev.  Mr.  Bradbury),  he  was  received  by  the  people  with  all 
possible  appearance  of  respect  and  satisfaction.  In  this  letter 
he  also  speaks  of  putting  forward  the  building  of  a  college, 
and  in  a  letter  to  the  Committee  of  the  West  Jersey  Society  of 
London  he  says: 

"  The  people  of  New  Jersey  are  in  a  poor  situation  for  educating  their  children, 
and  the  project  for  a  college  had  been  started  before  my  arrival,  and  where  it 
should  be  placed  was  a  matter  of  dispute  between  the  gentlemen  of  East  and  West 
Jersey,  but  I  have  got  them  to  agree  upon  Princeton." 

And  in  a  letter  of  October  2,  of  the  same  year,  he  says,  to 
another  friend  (Mr.  Walley): 

"  Princeton  is  fixed  upon  for  the  site  of  the  College,  and  such  a  nursery  for 
religion  and  learning  is  much  wanted." 

We  are  not  to  infer  from  these  statements  that  there  was  any 
formal  vote  or  agreement  among  the  friends  of  the  College  that 
it  should  be  permanently  established  at  Princeton,  but  that  those 
of  them  with  whom  the  Governor  conversed  had  intimated  to 
him  a  willingness  to  accede  to  his  suggestion,  "if,"  to  use  an 
expression  common  in  ecclesiastical  parlance,  "the  way  should 
be  clear." 


NOTICES   OF  THE    TRUSTEES, 


103 


For  ten  years  Governor  Belcher  administered,  with  great 
ability  and  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people  generally,  the 
government  of  this  Province.  The  disturbances  existing  before 
his  coming  were  quelled  by  his  mild  and  conciliatory  course, 
and  he  had  the  esteem  and  encouragement  of  the  friends  of 
evangelical  piety  and  sound  learning  in  his  efforts  to  place  upon 
a  firm  foundation  the  College  which,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
"  he  had  adopted  as  a  daughter." 

Governor  Belcher  was  the  first  to  follow  the  notable  example 
set  by  acting  Governor  John  Hamilton,  in  granting  a  charter, 
with  the  consent  of  Council,  without  any  reference  to  the  As- 
sembly, and  without  waiting  for  any  special  instructions  from 
the  English  Court.  (See  chapter  i.,  page  45.)  In  this  respect, 
Hamilton  first,  and  Belcher  next,  in  boldness  and  consummate 
judgment,  went  beyond  the  much-lauded  measure  of  Governor 
Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  in  prompting  and  approving  the 
declaration  by  the  General  Court  of  that  Province  in  1707,  that 
the  act  of  1650,  respecting  Harvard  College,  having  never  been 
repealed,  was  to  be  deemed  the  law  governing  that  institution, 
and  thus  secured  its  perpetuity  and  its  freedom  from  further 
interference  by  the  Crown,  which  had  annulled  its  charters, 
granted  subsequently  to  that  act.  The  example  of  President 
Hamilton  was  followed  not  only  by  Governor  Belcher,  but  by 
other  of  the  Provincial  Governors,  as  in  the  cases  of  King's 
College,  New  York  City ;  Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire ; 
Queen's  College,  New  Jersey;  which  were  all,  in  a  measure  at 
least,  indebted  for  their  existence  to  these  precedents  of  1746 
and  of  1748. 

Of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  and  of  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr,  Trustees  of  the  College  under  the  first  charter,  memoirs 
will  be  given  in  connection  with  the  narratives  of  their  admin- 
istrations as  Presidents  of  the  College. 

The  Rev.  John  Pierson,  a  Trustee  under  both  charters,  was 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Woodbridge,  Middlesex 
County,  New  Jersey.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1711,  and 
was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  the  first  rector  or 
President  of  that  College;  and  he  was  the  maternal  grand- 
father of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  the  eighth  President  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Pierson  was  the  Moderator 
of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  in  1749. 

The  Rev.  John  Pemberton,  D.D.,  also  known  to  be  a  Trustee 
under  both  charters,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1721. 
His  father,  of  the  same  name,  was  at  this  time  minister  of 
the  South  Church,  Boston.  Dr.  Pemberton,  the  Trustee,  was 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  city  of  New  York 
from  1727  until  1753  or  1754,  when  he  removed  to  Boston 
and  took  charge  of  a  church  in  that  city.  In  1746  he  was  the 
Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  New  York.  He  died  on  the  pth  of 
September,  1777,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  It  was  only 
during  his  residence  in  New  York  that  he  held  the  position  of 
Trustee. 

The  Hon.  John  Reading,  the  first  person  named  as  a  Trustee 
in  Governor  Belcher's  charter,  was  a  resident  of  Hunterdon 
County,  and  the  settlor  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  at 
the  time  this  charter  was  given ;  and  upon  the  death  of  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  he  became  the  acting  Governor  of  the  Province, 
as  he  had  been  for  nearly  a  year  before  Governor  Belcher's 
arrival. 

Hon.  James  Hude,  a  native  of  Scotland,  emigrated  to  this 
country  while  yet  a  young  man,  and  made  New  Brunswick  the 
place  of  his  residence.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  erection 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city,  of  which  church 
he  was  an  elder  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arthur. 
Mr.  Hude  was  for  some  time  Mayor  of  New  Brunswick,  and  at 
the  time  of  his  appointment  as  Trustee  of  the  College  he  was 
a  member  of  Governor  Belcher's  Council. 

Hon.  Andrew  Johnston  was  a  resident  of  Perth  Amboy,  an 
attendant  at  the  Episcopal  church  of  that  city,  a  member  of 
Governor  Belcher's  Council,  Treasurer  of  East  Jersey,  and  was 
the  first  person  chosen  Treasurer  of  the  College. 

Both  Mr.  Hude  and  Mr.  Johnston  were  members  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Council  when  the  Honorable  John  Hamilton,  President 
of  the  Council,  gave  the  first  charter,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  they  were  Trustees  of  the  College  under  that  charter  also. 
(See  page  47.) 

Hon.  Thomas  Leonard  was  a  member  of  Governor  Belcher's 


NOTICES   OF   THE    TRUSTEES. 


105 


Council,  a  resident  of  Princeton,  and  a  gentleman  of  wealth 
and  influence.  He  laid  the  corner-stone  of  "  Nassau  Hall." 

The  Leonards  of  New  Jersey  were  of  English  origin,  and 
they  were  descended  from  a  family  of  that  name  settled  at 
Raynham,  Massachusetts,  in  1652.  At  this  place  they  intro- 
duced the  first  forge  set  up  in  America,  and  in  1797  it  was  in  the 
possession  of  this  family  of  the  sixth  generation.  The  Leonards 
were  remarkable  for  their  longevity,  promotion  to  public  office, 
a  hereditary  attachment  to  the  manufacture  "  of  iron,  and  kind- 
ness to  the  Indians."  "  Of  the  great  ages  attained  by  this 
family,  it  is  stated  that  in  1793  it  was  known  that  one  had 
died  aged  one  hundred,  two  over  ninety,  seventeen  over  eighty, 
fifty-three  over  seventy-three.  Thirteen  had  been  graduated  at 
Cambridge."* 

King  Philip's  hunting-house  stood  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from 
the  forge,  and  Philip  and  the  Leonards  lived  on  such  friendly 
terms  that  as  soon  as  the  war  of  1675  broke  out,  which  ended 
in  the  death  of  the  King  and  in  the  ruin  of  his  tribe,  "he  issued 
strict  orders  to  all  his  Indians  never  to  hurt  the  Leonards."* 
As  early  as  1721,  Mr.  Leonard  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly 
of  New  Jersey,  from  Somerset  County;  and  he  died  in  1760. 

The  Hon.  John  Kinsey,  the  next  in  the  list  of  Trustees,  was, 
at  the  date  of  the  charter,  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  In  the  preparation 
of  this  instrument  Governor  Belcher  sought  his  advice,  and 
he  placed  it  in  his  hands  for  revision  before  submitting  it  to 
the  Attorney- General  of  New  Jersey  for  his  approval.  At  the 
earnest  desire  of  Governor  Belcher,  Chief-Justice  Kinsey  con- 
tinued to  serve  as  a  Trustee. 

He  was  a  native  of  England,  and  upon  coming  to  this 
country  settled  first  in  New  Jersey.  In  1716  he  was  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  Provincial  Assembly  from  Middlesex  County, 
and  the  same  year,  and  for  several  years  in  immediate  succes- 
sion, he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  this  body;  and  again  in  1730 
and  1733.  From  New  Jersey  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly,  of 

*  Morse's  American  Gazetteer. 
VOL.  i. — 8 


I06        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

which  he  was  the  Speaker  for  several  sessions.  (See  Elmer's 
"  Reminiscences.") 

David  Paul  Brown,  author  of  the  "  Forum  and  Bar,"  speaks 
of  Mr.  Kinsey  as  being  for  some  years,  with  Andrew  Hamilton, 
the  only  great  lawyer  in  the  Province.  In  the  case  of  the  Rev. 
Wm.  Tennent,  tried  for  perjury,  Mr.  Kinsey  was  associated 
with  Mr.  Wm.  Smith,  of  New  York,  and  with  Mr.  John  Coxe, 
of  New  Jersey,  as  counsel  for  the  defence. 

A  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Court  of  Chancery 
in  Pennsylvania  by  Governor  Sir  W.  Keith,  he  caused  Mr. 
Kinsey's  hat  to  be  taken  off  by  an  officer  of  the  court,  whilst 
Mr.  K.  was  attending  to  some  business  before  him  as  Chancel- 
lor. This  gave  great  offence  to  the  Quakers,  and,  although  they 
were  afterwards  allowed  to  wear  their  hats,  the  court  itself  was 
soon  after  entirely  set  aside.  (See  Field's  "Provincial  Courts" 
and  Proud's  "  History  of  Pennsylvania.") 

In  1738,  Mr.  Kinsey  was  Attorney-General  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  1743  he  was  made  Chief  Justice  of  that  Province:  this 
latter  office  he  retained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at 
Burlington,  New  Jersey,  in  May,  1750. 

In  writing  to  Mr.  Richard  Partridge,  then  in  London,  Gov- 
ernor Belcher,  in  a  letter  of  the  date  of  April  22,  1748,  says  of 
Mr.  Kinsey,  "  He  is  the  next  man  in  honor  and  power  to  the 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania."  And  again,  in  writing  to  the  same 
gentleman,  in  November,  1750,  he  says,  "  My  friend  Kinsey  is 
dead." 

Hon.  Edward  Shippen  was  by  profession  a  merchant,  but  in 
1749  he  was  made  a  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas,  and  also  of 
the  Orphans'  Court  and  Quarter  Sessions,  of  Philadelphia.  He 
had  for  his  associates  on  the  bench  Franklin,  Lawrence,  and 
Maddox.  (See  Brown's  "  Forum.") 

He  was  evidently  a  man  of  note  and  influence,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  College.  Owing 
to  his  advanced  age,  he  resigned  his  place  at  the  Board  in  1767. 

His  son,  Edward  Shippen,  was  for  some  years  Chief  Justice 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  and  his  younger  son,  Joseph 
Shippen,  a  graduate  of  the  College  in  1753,  was  Secretary  of 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Judge  Shippen  was  a  scholarly 


NOTICES  OF   THE    TRUSTEES. 


IC>7 


man,  and  occasionally  corresponded  with  his  sons  in  the  Latin 
and  French  languages. 

Hon.  Wm.  Smith  was  an  eminent  lawyer  of  New  York  City. 
He  was  born  in  Buckinghamshire,  England,  in  1696,  and  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1715.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1719,  and  was  a  Tutor  in  the  same  from  1722  to  1724. 
In  1736  he  was  made  Recorder  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
subsequently  a  member  of  the  King's  Council,  and  also  a  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province.  Of  the  part  he  took 
in  the  Zenger  trial  for  libel,  and  of  the  consequences  to  him- 
self and  to  his  friend  James  Alexander,  Esq.,  mention  was 
made  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  work ;  but  nothing  is  there 
said  of  the  grounds  of  the  exceptions  taken  by  them  to  the 
competency  of  the  court  to  try  the  case.  They  were  these  : 

"  I.  Because  the  commission  was  granted  during  pleasure,  whereas  it  ought  to 
be  granted  during  good  behavior. 

"  2.  That  the  commission  was  granted  by  a  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  whereas 
it  could  only  be  granted  by  a  Judge  of  the  King's  Bench. 

"  3.  That  the  form  of  the  commission  was  not  warranted  by  law. 

"  4.  It  appears  that  the  commission  was  allowed  by  William  Cosby,  Esq.,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Colony,  and  without  the  advice  or  consent  of  his  Majesty's  Council 
of  this  Colony,  without  which  the  Governor  could  not  grant  the  same. 
•  "When  these  exceptions  were  offered  to  the  Court,  April  15,  1735,  the  Chief 
Justice  said  to  Messrs.  Alexander  and  Smith  that  they  ought  well  to  consider  the 
consequences  of  what  they  offered ;  to  which  they  answered,  they  had  well  con- 
sidered the  consequences ;  and  Mr.  Smith  further  said,  that  he  was  so  well  satisfied 
of  the  right  of  the  subject  to  take  an  exception  to  the  commission  of  a  judge,  if 
he  thought  such  commission  illegal,  that  he  durst  venture  his  life  upon  that  point. 

"  The  next  day  Mr.  Smith  asked  to  be  heard  by  the  Court  on  these  two  points  : 

"  I.  Whether  the  subject  has  the  right  to  take  such  exceptions. 

"  2.  That  the  exceptions  were  legal  and  valid. 

"  To  which  the  Chief  Justice  said,  '  That  they  would  neither  hear  nor  allow  the 
exceptions;  .  .  .  and  that  either  we  must  go  from  the  bench  or  you  from  the  bar.' 

"  Accordingly,  by  order  of  the  Court,  they  were  '  excluded  from  any  further 
practice  in  this  Court.'  "  (See  Brown's  "  Forum,"  pp.  287,  288.) 

"  In  1754,  with  the  aid  of  Messrs.  James  Alexander,  P.  V.  B.  and  W.  Livingston, 
and  J.  Morin  Scott,  he  raised  .£600  to  buy  books  to  lend  to  the  people,  which  led 
to  the  establishment  of  the  New  York  Society  Library."  (Duer's  "  Life  of  Lord 
Stirling.") 

The  following  obituary  notice  of  Mr.  Smith  appeared  in  the 
"New  York  Gazette,"  November  22,  1769: 

"  Last  Wednesday  morning  departed  this  life,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 


I08        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

age,  the  Honorable  Wm.  Smith,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  late  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council  for  this  province.  He  was  born  in  England, 
and  arrived  here  in  1715.  He  practised  the  law  with  great  reputation,  and  was 
esteemed  one  of  the  most  eminent  in  his  profession.  In  1753  he  was  made  one  of 
his  Majesty's  Council,  which  office  he  afterwards  resigned,  and  in  the  year  1763  he 
was  made  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  great 
erudition,  and  was  the  most  eloquent  speaker  in  the  province.  He  was  of  an  amiable 
and  exemplary  life  and  conversation,  and  a  zealous  and  inflexible  friend  to  the 
cause  of  religion  and  liberty." 

Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston,  Esq.,  was  an  eminent  merchant 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  a  man  of  great  public  spirit.  He 
was  a  son  of  Philip  Livingston,  of  Livingston  Manor,  and  the 
eldest  brother  of  Governor  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey.  He 
was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1731.  He  married  Mary,  a  daughter 
of  James  Alexander,  above  mentioned.  In  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  he  removed  to  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  in  the  vicinity 
of  which  he  purchased  a  farm,  that  has  remained  in  possession 
of  his  family  ever  since,  the  present  proprietor  being  John 
Kean,  Esq. 

Wm.  Peartree  Smith  was  the  grandson  of  Wm.  Smith, 
Governor-General  of  the  island  of  Jamaica,  who  was  married 
at  Port  Royal  to  Frances  Peartree,  and  who  died  at  New  York 
April  2,  1714,  leaving  two  sons,  the  younger  of  whom,  Wil- 
liam, was  the  father  of  William  Peartree  Smith,  who  was  born 
in  New  York  in  1723.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1742,  and  studied  law,  but  did  not  engage  in  the  practice  of  it, 
finding  sufficient  employment  in  attending  to  his  own  estate 
and  in  promoting  useful  objects.  Governor  Belcher,  as  early 
as  1748,  speaks  of  him  as  his  correspondent  in  New  York,  and 
as  being  "a  very  worthy  and  religious  young  man."  The  fam- 
ily was  one  of  much  taste  and  refinement.  He  married  Mary 
Bryant,  daughter  of  Captain  Bryant,  of  Amboy,  and  left  one 
daughter,  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  Elisha  Boudinot,  and  one  son, 
Wm.  Pitt  Smith,  M.D.  Ten  other  children  died  in  early  life. 
He  joined  Cummings,  Livingston,  and  Scott  in  publishing  the 
"Watch-Tower,"  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1755.  He  was 
an  ardent  patriot,  and  took  a  great  interest  in  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  Provinces  and  the  mother-country,  and  lost  much  of 
his  property  by  the  depreciation  of  the  currency.  "  He  was," 


NOTICES   OF  THE    TRUSTEES.  lOg 

says  Dr.  Hatfield,  "  one  of  the  most  distinguished  civilians 
of  the  day."  Upon  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  he  removed 
to  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  and  while  living  there  he  was 
arrested  by  the  British  and  taken  to  New  York,  and,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  interposition  of  his  numerous  friends  in  that  city, 
would  have  been  sent  to  the  prison-ship.  He  resigned  his 
place  at  the  Board  in  1793,  having  been  for  at  least  forty-five 
years  a  trustee  of  the  College.  He  died  in  1801. 

Samuel  Hazard,  Esq.,  was  the  second  son  of  Nathaniel  Haz- 
ard, a  merchant  of  New  York.  He  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
and  continued  to  reside  there.  He  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom, 
Ebenezer  Hazard,  a  graduate  of  Nassau  Hall,  succeeded  Mr. 
Bache  as  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Hazard,  the  Trustee,  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  the  Archi- 
tect, were  a  committee  to  select  the  site  for  Nassau  Hall. 

Of  the  Rev.  John  Pierson  and  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Pem- 
berton,  the  first  two  ministers  of  the  gospel  named  in  the 
second  charter,  mention  was  made  above  as  being  Trustees 
under  the  first  charter. 

The  next  in  order  is  the  Rev.  Joseph  Lamb.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  in  1717,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Long  Island,  and  installed  pastor  of  Mattituck.  Being  called 
to  Baskingridge,  May,  1744,  he  joined  the  New  Brunswick  Pres- 
bytery. He  was  the  Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  in 
1748,  his  predecessors  in  that  office  being,  Jonathan  Dickinson, 
1745  ;  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  1746;  Gilbert  Tennent,  1747.  Mr. 
Lamb  died  in  July,  1749. 

The  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  the  Rev.  William  Tennent  were 
born  in  Ireland,  and  came  to  America  with  their  father,  the 
Rev.  William  Tennent,  Senior,  September,  1716.  Their  father 
accepted  a  call  to  Neshaminy  in  1726,  at  which  place  he  estab- 
lished the  famous  Log  College,  "  at  which,"  says  Whitefield, 
"  eight  ministers  trained  by  him  were  sent  out  before  the  autumn 
of  1 739.  Of  these,  four  were  his  own  sons."  As  frequent  men- 
tion will  be  elsewhere  made  in  this  history  of  these  two  distin- 
guished and  devoted  servants  of  Christ,  and  our  object  being 
mainly  to  identify,  as  far  as  can  be  done,  the  first  Trustees 
under  each  of  the  two  College  charters,  we  shall  merely  state 


IIO        HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

in  this  connection  that  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  D.D.,  was 
first  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, in  1726,  and  removed  to  Philadelphia  in  1744,  where  he 
had  charge  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  until  his  death, 
in  January,  1764.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher,  and  an  earnest 
controversialist,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  making  a 
liberal  use  of  the  press  in  maintaining  his  own  opinions,  and 
in  attacking,  and  not  always  in  the  mildest  terms,  the  opinions 
of  those  from  whom  he  differed.  He  was  beyond  question  the 
leading  man  among  his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick — not  to  say  of  the  Synod  of  New  York — after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Dickinson. 

Of  Dr.  Gilbert  Tennent,  and  also  of  his  father  and  three 
brothers,  William,  Jr.,  John,  and  Charles,  interesting  memoirs 
are  given  in  Dr.  A.  Alexander's  "  History  of  the  Log  Col- 
lege." 

The  Rev.  William  Tennent,  Jr.,  was  ordained  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia  in  October,  1733,  and  succeeded  his 
younger  brother,  John  Tennent,  as  pastor  of  the  Freehold 
Presbyterian  church,  now  known  as  the  Tennent  Church, 
Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey.  On  different  occasions  he 
was  chosen  pro  tern.  President  of  the  College.  A  sketch  of 
his  life,  recording  several  extraordinary  incidents,  was  published 
by  Hon.  Elias  Boudinot,  LL.D.,  in  "  The  Assembly's  Mission- 
ary Magazine"  of  1806. 

The  accuracy  of  this  sketch  with  respect  to  some  matters 
connected  with  Mr.  William  Tennent's  trial,  on  the  charge  of 
perjury  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Roland,  before  Chief-Justice  Robert 
Hunter  Morris,  has  been  called  in  question  by  two  such  emi- 
nent lawyers  as  Judge  R.  S.  Field  and  Chancellor  H.  W.  Green, 
who,  in  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  have  made  good  the  excep- 
tions taken  by  them  to  some  of  the  details.  Chancellor  Green's 
paper  was  published  in  the  "Princeton  Review"  for  1868,  and 
Judge  Field's  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical 
Society,"  vol.  vi. 

The  errors  in  the  narrative  of  the  trial  can  be  readily  ac- 
counted for,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  written  between 
sixty  and  seventy  years  after  the  trial  took  place,  and  about 


NOTICES   OF  THE    TRUSTEES.  IU 

thirty  years  after  Mr.  Tennent's  decease;  and  further,  that  the 
incidents  mentioned  were  given  upon  the  authority  of  persons 
who  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  any  of  the  facts,  and  whose 
belief  in  the  truthfulness  of  what  they  had  heard  respecting  the 
trial  rested  solely  upon  mere  traditions,  in  which  the  facts  were 
so  intermingled  with  wrong  deductions  from  them  as  to  give  to 
the  entire  narrative  an  air  of  fiction.  If  all  the  incidents,  both 
those  known  and  those  unknown  to  the  author  of  the  narrative, 
had  been  given  in  their  proper  order,  there  would  have  been  no 
difficulty  in  showing  that  they  were  such  as  might  have  oc- 
curred in  the  usual  course  of  divine  providence,  without  re- 
quiring any  supernatural  interposition  through  the  medium  of 
dr.eams.  Granting  that  two  of  the  witnesses  had  the  very 
dreams  they  are  reported  to  have  had,  it  is  far  more  likely  that 
the  dreams  were  in  consequence  of  what  they  had  previously 
heard  respecting  the  bills  of  indictment  found  against  Mr.  Ten- 
nent  and  Mr.  Stevens,  than  that  their  first  information  on  the 
subject  was  derived  from  the  dreams ;  which,  indeed,  is  not 
directly  affirmed,  but  is  left  to  be  inferred  from  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  introduced  into  the  narrative.  The  trial  took 
place  in  June,  1742,  ten  months  after  the  indictment,  and  of 
course  there  was  ample  time  to  summon  all  the  witnesses 
required  in  the  case. 

There  is  another  objection  to  the  narrative,  inasmuch  as  it 
exalts  Mr.  Tennent's  piety  at  the  expense  of  his  judgment,  the 
right  exercise  of  which  would  have  led  him,  contrary  to  what  is 
said  in  the  narrative,  to  employ  every  lawful  means  within  his 
reach  to  meet  the  unjust  and  cruel  charge  brought  against 
him,  and  from  which  he  was  triumphantly  vindicated  by  the 
testimony  adduced  at  the  trial  and  by  the  verdict  of  the  jury. 

The  Rev.  Richard  Treat,  D.D.,  was  born  in  Milford,  Con- 
necticut, September  25,  1705,  and  was  a  descendant  or  near 
relative  of  Governor  Robert  Treat.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale 
in  1725,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia, 
and  installed  pastor  of  the  church  of  Abington,  December  30, 
1731.  But  upon  the  division  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  by 
which  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  and  their  adherents 
were  excluded  from  the  Synod,  he  joined  this  Presbytery,  of 


H2        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

which  he  was  an  influential  member.  He  died  November  20, 
1778. 

Rev.  Samuel  Blair  was  born  in  Ireland,  June  14,  1712;  he 
came  to  this  country  while  yet  a  lad.  He  pursued  his  studies 
at  the  "Log  College,"  and  was  licensed  November,  1733,  at 
Abington,  by  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery.  He  accepted  a  call 
to  Middletown  and  Shrewsbury,  New  Jersey,  and  was  ordained 
by  the  East  Jersey  Presbytery  in  1734.  At  the  earnest  invita- 
tion of  the  people  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Pennsylvania,  he  removed 
to  that  place,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  their  church  in  April, 
1740.  Here  he  established  a  classical  and  theological  school, 
which  under  his  wise  and  skilful  guidance,  and  that  of  his 
brother,  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  his  successor  at  Fagg's  Manor, 
rose  to  be  an  institution  of  much  note.  He  died  July  5,  1751. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  in  writing  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellamy, 
says,  "The  greatest  light  in  these  parts  is  just  about  to  take 
wing."  (See  Rev.  R.  Webster's  "  History.") 

Rev.  David  Cowell  was  born  in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts, 
in  1704,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1732.  He  was 
ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  November  3,  1736, 
and  installed  pastor  of  the  church  at  Trenton.  He  was  an 
ardent  and  devoted  friend  of  the  College,  and  had  much  to  do 
in  placing  Mr.  Davies  in  the  presidency  of  that  institution.  To 
Mr.  D.  he  wrote,  "  I  am  sensible  that  your  leaving  Virginia  is 
attended  with  great  difficulties,  but  I  cannot  think  your  affairs 
are  of  equal  importance  with  the  College." 

He  died  December  i,  1760,  and  his  funeral  sermon  was 
preached  by  President  Davies,  who  said  of  him,  "  In  the 
charter  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  he  was  nominated  one 
of  the  Trustees,  and  but  few  invested  with  the  same  trust  dis- 
charged it  with  so  much  zeal,  diligence,  and  alacrity ;"  adding, 
"  The  College  of  New  Jersey  has  lost  a  father,  and  I  have  lost 
a  friend."  (See  Rev.  Dr.  Hall's  "  History  of  the  First  Church, 
Trenton.") 

He  was  the  only  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  whose 
name  appears  in  the  charter;  for,  although  Drs.  Tennent  and 
Treat  resided  in  Pennsylvania,  they  were  members  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York. 


NOTICES  OF  THE    TRUSTEES.  H^ 

Rev.  Timothy  Johnes,  D.D.,  was  of  Welsh  descent,  and  was 
born  at  South  Hampton,  Long  Island,  New  York,  May  24, 
1717.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1737.  He  was  ordained 
February  9,  1743,  and  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Morristown 
until  his  death,  September,  1794,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight 
years.  In  1783  he  received  from  Yale  the  degree  of  Doctor  in 
Divinity. 

Rev.  Thomas  Arthur  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1743,  and  was 
ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  in  1746,  and  settled  as 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  New  Brunswick,  at  which 
place  he  died,  February  2,  1751,  aged  twenty-seven.  "  He  was 
a  good  scholar,  a  graceful  orator,  and  a  finished  preacher."  • 

Rev.  Jacob  Green  was  born  at  Maiden,  Massachusetts,  Jan- 
uary 22,  1723.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1744.  He 
came  to  New  Jersey,  and  was  ordained  and  installed  at  Hanover 
in  1746. 

On  the  22d  of  November,  1758,  he  was  chosen  Vice-President 
of  the  College  pro  tern.,  and  for  six  months  discharged  the 
duties  pertaining  to  the  office  of  President. 

He  was  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  the  eighth 
President  of  the  College.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  New  Jersey  of  1776,  and  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  that  prepared  the  first  Constitution  of  the  State. 

In  the  second  charter  the  names  of  the  lay  Trustees  appear 
to  be  inserted  in  the  order  of  their  rank,  if  they  held  office, 
and  of  their  age  or  social  position,  if  not  in  office.  Hence  the 
names  of  the  members  of  the  Governor's  Council  are  given 
first.  Then  occur  the  names  of  Chief-Justice  Kinsey  and  Judge 
Shippen,  of  Pennsylvania.  The  name  of  William  Smith,  the 
distinguished  attorney  and  counsellor  of  New  York,  comes 
next.  He  was  not  made  a  judge  till  1763.  After  him  are 
named  Peter  V.  B.  Livingston,  William  Peartree  Smith,  and 
Samuel  Hazard,  in  order  of  age,  most  probably. 

The  names  of  the  clergy  are  given  according  to  the  dates  of 
their  respective  ordinations. 


CHAPTER    V. 


THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF     THE    REV.    JONATHAN    DICKINSON, 
FIRST   PRESIDENT   OF  THE   COLLEGE   OF   NEW  JERSEY. 


IN  the  Introduction  to  this  work  it  has  been  made  to  appear 
that  the  College  owed  its  origin  mainly  to  the  foresight  and 
efforts  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pemberton,  Burr, 
and  their  coadjutors. 

The  first  named  of  these  eminent  and  good  men  was  the  one 
selected  by  his  associates  to  take  the  oversight  of  their  infant 
seminary  of  learning. 

In  the  triennial  catalogue  of  the  College,  Mr.  Dickinson  is 
spoken  of  as  President  in  1746;  but  this  is  an  error,  and  it 
arose  from  confounding  the  date  of  the  first  charter  with  the 
time  when  Mr.  Dickinson  was  chosen  President  of  the  College, 
which  most  probably  took  place  in  April,  1747,  and  certainly 
not  before  February  of  that  year.  For  on  the  2d  of  February, 
O.  S.,  corresponding  to  the  I3th  of  February,  N.  S.,  the  Trus- 
tees announced  to  the  public  that  a  charter  for  a  College  had 
been  granted  to  them,  and  that  the  College  would  be  opened 
some  time  in  May  next,  at  the  latest ;  but  in  this  their  first  ad- 
vertisement they  make  no  mention  of  the  choice  of  a  President, 
nor  of  the  location  of  the  College.  In  their  next  public  notice, 
of  the  date  of  April  27,  1747,  they  say  that  "the  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  have  appointed  the  Rev.  Jonathan 
Dickinson  President  of  said  College,  which"  (they  add)  "  will 
be  opened  in  the  fourth  week  of  May  next,  at  Elizabethtown. 
At  which  Time  and  Place  all  Persons  suitably  qualified  may 
be  admitted  to  an  Academic  Education." 

That  the  first  term  of  the  College  began  at  the  time  here 
specified  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt;  and  the  evidence 
adduced  shows  that  the  charter  under  which  Mr.  Dickinson 
114 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV,  JONATHAN  DICKINSON.     u$ 

conducted  the  instruction  and  the  government  of  the  College 
was  in  full  force  until  it  was  superseded  by  the  one  given  by 
Governor  Belcher  in  1748.* 

Within  one  year  from  the  opening  of  the  College  there  were 
several  students  ready  to  receive  their  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 
And  this  fact  renders  it  morally  certain  that  some  of  these  can- 
didates, if  not  all,  had  been  in  training  under  the  supervision 
and  instruction  of  President  Dickinson.  As  just  mentioned, 
the  first  term  began  in  the  fourth  week  of  May,  1747.  Mr. 
Dickinson  died  on  the  7th  of  October  of  the  same  year.  The 
third  Wednesday  of  May,  1748,  was  the  day  selected  for  the 
first  Commencement ;  and  had  it  taken  place  at  that  time  the 
first  graduates  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  would  have  been 
admitted  to  their  Bachelor's  degree  under  the  charter  given  by 
President  Hamilton  in  1746.  But  Governor  Belcher,  desirous 
that  they  should  receive  this  honor  from  himself  and  the  gen- 
tlemen to  be  associated  with  him  as  Trustees  under  the  charter 
which  he  was  then  preparing,  requested  that  the  Commence- 
ment might  be  deferred  for  a  fortnight,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  it  in  his  power  to  attend  the  Commencement,  and  to 
deliver  the  new  charter  to  the  Trustees  on  that  occasion.  The 
promised  charter  was  not  ready  at  the  time  the  Governor  ex- 
pected, and  a  further  delay  occurred  in  the  holding  of  the  first 
Commencement.  And  when  the  charter  prepared  under  the 
direction  of  Governor  Belcher  was  ready  to' be  delivered  to  the 
Trustees  therein  named,  it  did  not  prove  to  be  in  all  respects 
satisfactory  to  the  leading  friends  of  the  College.  It  was  there- 
fore altered,  and  it  passed  the  seal  of  the  Province  a  second 
time  on  the  I4th  of  September,  1748;  and  this  delay  in  the 
preparation  of  the  second  charter  occasioned  a  still  further 
postponing  of  the  Commencement,  which  finally  took  place  at 
Newark  on  the  Qth  of  November  of  that  year,  when  the  ex- 
pectant candidates  received  their  deferred  honors.  From  the 
above  statement  it  is  evident  that  these  first  graduates  are  to 
be  regarded  as  foster-sons  of  the  College  under  the  first  charter 
rather  than  under  the  second,  and  as  connected  with  the  ad- 

*  See  extracts  from  the  Governor's  letters  on  pages  82-84. 


H6        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ministration  of  President  Dickinson  as  well  as  with  that  of 
President  Burr. 

Of  the  course  of  study  or  of  the  number  of  pupils  during 
Mr.  Dickinson's  administration,  so  far  as  is  now  known,  there 
is  no  official  record,  nor  is  there  any  memorandum  of  these 
matters  by  any  person  conversant  with  the  condition  of  the 
College  at  that  time.  With  respect  to  the  number  of  students 
during  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  different  estimates 
have  been  made ;  but,  as  they  can  be  little  else  than  mere  con- 
jectures, they  hardly  call  for  particular  consideration. 

From  the  well-known  ability  and  learning  of  the  President, 
and  from  the  character  of  the  prominent  gentlemen  associated 
with  him,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  sought  to  establish 
a  curriculum  which  would  compare  well  with  those  of  the  older 
colleges ;  and  further,  it  is  certain  beyond  all  question,  that  in 
ordering  the  course  of  instruction  they  had  a  special  reference 
to  the  training  of  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry.  Not 
only  was  this  their  avowed  object  and  their  strongest  induce- 
ment to  engage  in  this  enterprise,  but  the  catalogue  of  gradu- 
ates shows  that  the  first  class  consisted  of  six  members,  five  of 
whom  became  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  and  that  of  the  seven 
graduates  of  the  following  year,  five  entered  the  ministry. 
Another  of  the  seven,  of  whose  professional  pursuits  nothing 
is  known,  died  about  two  years  after  leaving  College. 

It  is  said  by  Dr.  Hatfield,  in  his  "  History  of  Elizabeth," 
that  President  Dickinson  was  assisted  in  the  instruction  of  the 
students  by  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
and  that  this  gentleman  was  the  first  Tutor  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey.  It  is  quite  probable  that  it  was  so ;  although  the 
evidence  is  not  so  complete  as  we  could  desire.  From  a  "  Brief 
Account  of  Mr.  Smith,"  published  in  1765,  and  within  two  or 
three  years  after  his  decease,  it  appears  that  he  was  teaching  at 
Elizabeth,  and  pursuing  his  theological  studies  there  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Dickinson ;  and  that  he  was  licensed  to  preach 
the  gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  in  April,  1747, 
which  was  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Dickinson  was  chosen 
President  of  the  College.  If  not  formally  appointed  a  Tutor 
by  the  Trustees,  he  may  have  been,  and  most  probably  was, 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV.  JONATHAN  DICKINSON,     j^ 

employed  by  the  President  under  an  authority  given  him  by 
the  Trustees  to  engage  for  a  limited  time  the  services  of  a 
competent  assistant.  From  what  is  known  of  Mr.  Smith's 
talents  and  scholarship,  he  must  have  been  a  very  suitable 
person  for  such  a  position.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Mr. 
Smith  continued  to  reside  at  Elizabethtown  after  the  decease 
of  Mr.  Dickinson,  until  his  ordination  and  settlement  at  Newark 
Mountains,  now  Orange,  in  the  autumn  of  1748.  Of  the  char- 
acter of  this  early  friend  of  the  College,  and  of  the  important 
services  which  he  rendered  to  it,  we  hope  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  speak  more  fully  than  we  can  in  this  connection. 

A    BRIEF    SKETCH     OF    THE    LIFE    AND    LABORS    OF    PRESIDENT 

DICKINSON.* 

President  Dickinson  was  born  in  Hatfield,  Massachusetts,  on 
the  22d  of  April,  1688.  His  father  was  Hezekiah  Dickinson, 
and  his  grandfather  was  Nathaniel  Dickinson,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Wethersfield,  Connecticut.  His  mother  was  Abi- 
gail, daughter  of  Samuel,  and  granddaughter  of  the  Rev.  Adam 
Blackman,  or  Blakeman,  the  first  minister  of  Stratford,  Con- 
necticut, and  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Oxford. 

Mr.  Dickinson  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1706,  and 
while  there  he  was  a  pupil  of  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  the 
first  Rector  or  President  of  that  institution,  which  was  founded 
in  1701  and  incorporated  in  1702,  and  to  which  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  is  indebted  for  the  academic  training  of  her  first 
three  Presidents, — Dickinson,  Burr,  and  Edwards. 

After  leaving  college,  Mr.  Dickinson  engaged  in  the  study 
of  theology,  but  under  whose  guidance  we  have  no  tradition. 
He  went  to  Elizabethtown  in  1708,  and  his  preaching  was  so 
acceptable  to  the  people  of  that  place  that  he  was  invited  to 
become  their  pastor,  and,  accepting  this  invitation,  he  was  or- 
dained on  Friday,  the  29th  of  September,  1709.  The  services 
on  this  occasion  were  performed  by  the  ministers  of  Fairfield 

*  In  preparing  this  sketch,  the  writer  has  freely  availed  himself  of  the  labors 
of  Drs.  Green,  Sprague,  Stearns,  and  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster;  but  more 
especially  of  the  admirable  sketch  of  "  President  Dickinson's  Life  and  Labors," 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  in  his  "  History  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey." 


US        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

County,  Connecticut,  who  the  year  before  had  formed  a  con- 
sociation according  to  the  Saybrook  Platform,  and  who  on  this 
occasion  were  assisted  by  the  pastors  of  some  of  the  churches 
in  New  Jersey. 

At  the  time  of  his  ordination  and  of  his  engaging  in  pastoral 
labors  Mr.  Dickinson  was  not  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

"  It  was,"  says  Dr.  Hatfielcl,  "  a  weighty  charge  to  be  laid  on  such  youthful 
shoulders.  And  yet  not  too  weighty,  as  the  sequel  proved.  Quickly  and  diligently 
he  applied  himself  to  his  work,  and  his  profiling  presently  appeared  to  all.  It  was 
not  long  before  he  took  rank  among  the  first  of  his  profession." 

Some  months  before  his  ordination,  and  while  supplying  the 
pulpit  of  the  church  at  Elizabethtown,  he  married  Joanna  Mel- 
yen,  daughter  of  Jacob  Melyen,  and  sister  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Melyen.  The  father  was  one  of  the  associates  in  the  purchase 
of  the  Elizabethtown  tract,  under  Governor  Nicolls's  grant ;  the 
brother  was  for  two  or  three  years  pastor  of  the  church  of  that 
place  prior  to  Mr.  Dickinson's  settlement  there.* 

The  church  at  Elizabethtown  was  originally  Independent,  and 
conducted  its  affairs  after  the  model  of  the  Congregational 
churches  of  New  England.  At  the  time  Mr.  Dickinson  became 
the  pastor  of  this  church  it  had  been  established  about  forty 
years,  and  for  several  years  after  his  settlement  it  continued  to 
be  an  Independent  church.  But,  influenced  more  or  less  by  his 

*  The  family  was  from  Holland,  and  Cornelis  Melyn,  the  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Dickinson,  was  a  patroon,  or  large  landed  proprietor,  having  obtained  of  the 
Dutch  Government  a  grant  of  Staten  Island,  which  he  afterwards  relinquished  to 
the  West  India  Company. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dickinson  had  nine  children.  Their  youngest  daughter,  Martha, 
was  married  to  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  of  Newark  Mountains,  now  Orange,  and 
their  eldest  to  Jonathan  Sergeant,  the  father  of  the  Hon.  Jonathan  Dickinson  Ser- 
geant and  the  grandfather  of  the  Hon.  John  Sergeant  and  of  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  and  also  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Sergeant  Miller,  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Princeton. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith's  descendants  are  numerous,  and  several  of  them  highly 
distinguished  in  their  respective  callings.  Among  these  are  John  C.  Green,  Esq., 
of  New  York,  who  has  reared  a  noble  monument  to  his  eminent  ancestor,  in  the 
erection  of  Dickinson  Hall,  at  Princeton,  the  Hon.  Henry  M.  Green,  LL.D., 
late  Chancellor  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev.  William  Henry  Green,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Professor  in  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and  who  in  the  spring  of  1868 
was  chosen  President  of  the  College,  but  declined  the  appointment. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV.   JONATHAN  DICKINSON,     ng 

views  and  wishes,  the  members  consented  to  change  their  form 
of  government,  and  placed  themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia.  This  change  probably  occurred  in  the 
spring  of  1717,  as  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  Mr.  Dickinson's 
name  is  given  in  the  list  of  members  present  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  held  its  first  sessions  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia,  in  September,  1717.  Although  it  appears 
from  certain  memoranda  kept  by  the  Presbytery  that  Mr.  Dick- 
inson was  present  and  took  part  in  the  ordination  of  the  Rev. 
Robert  Orr,  on  the  2Oth  of  October,  1715,  yet  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  he  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery,  as  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of  members 
at  that  meeting,  or  at  any  previous  one.  He  was  also  present 
at  the  ordination  of  his  friend  the  Rev.  John  Pierson,  at  Wood- 
bridge,  New  Jersey,  on  the  29th  of  April,  1717;  and,  as  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Synod  in  the  following  autumn,  he  was  proba- 
bly received  as  a  regular  member  at  the  meeting  held  for  Mr. 
Pierson's  ordination. 

The  first  Presbytery  in  this  country,  viz.,  that  of  Philadelphia, 
was  organized  in  1705.  It  increased  rapidly,  and  in  1716  it  re- 
solved itself  into  a  Synod,  consisting  of  three  Presbyteries,  one 
of  them  retaining  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 
Of  this  body  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  member  until  the  formation 
of  the  Presbytery  of  East  Jersey,  in  1 733.  This  last-named  Pres- 
bytery comprised  most  if  not  all  of  the  ministers  in  the  east- 
ern division  of  the  Province,  and  to  it  was  united,  in  1738,  the 
small  Presbytery  of  Long  Island.  Upon  the  union  of  the  two 
they  received  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York ;  and  of 
this  Presbytery  Mr.  Dickinson  was  the  leading  member  until 
his  decease,  in  the  autumn  of  1747.  It  was  as  a  member  of  this 
Presbytery  that  Mr.  Dickinson  took  the  prominent  part  men- 
tioned in  the  Introduction  to  this  work,  in  favor  of  establishing 
a  seminary  of  a  high  order  for  the  education  of  candidates  for 
the  holy  ministry. 

Mr.  Dickinson  was  held  in  great  reverence  by  his  brethren 
in  the  sacred  office.  He  was  twice  chosen  Moderator  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia, — once  in  1721  and  again  in  1742, — and 
he  was  the  first  Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  organ- 


12Q       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ized  in  1745.  He  was  also  from  year  to  year  a  member  of 
the  most  important  committees  of  the  Synod.  From  choice  a 
Presbyterian,  he  was  nevertheless  not  forgetful  of  his  training 
as  an  Independent,  and  he  was  altogether  indisposed  to  coun- 
tenance the  assumption,  by  Presbytery  or  Synod,  of  any  doubt- 
ful power.  Hence,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  1721,  he 
drew  up  a  protest  against  the  action  of  the  Synod  in  adopting 
a  certain  measure  which,  he  apprehended,  would  prepare  the 
way  for  the  introduction  of  rules  and  regulations  touching  the 
government  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  the  enacting  of  which 
by  the  Synod  would,  according  to  his  view  of  the  case,  transcend 
its  legitimate  powers  as  a  Church  court.  At  the  next  meeting 
of  Synod,  as  Moderator  of  the  previous  one,  he  preached  the 
opening  sermon,  and  in  this  discourse  he  took  occasion  to 
define  fully  and  clearly  his  own  views  in  regard  to  the  limits 
of  ecclesiastical  authority.  This  full  discussion  of  the  subject 
led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  protest  of  the  year  before,  and  to 
the  presentation  of  a  paper  by  Mr.  Dickinson  and  his  friends, 
in  which  paper  the  true  limits  of  Church  power  were  so  satis- 
factorily exhibited  that  it  commanded  the  hearty  approval  of 
the  entire  body,  and  its  unanimous  adoption  called  forth,  on 
the  part  of  the  Synod,  to  use  the  words  of  the  minute,  "  a 
thanksgiving  prayer  and  joyful  singing  of  the  13 3d  Psalm." 

In  the  autumn  of  1728  an  overture  was  introduced  into  the 
Synod,  "  having  reference  to  the  subscribing  of  the  [West- 
minster] Confession  of  Faith,  and  proposing  that  every  minister 
and  candidate  should  be  required  to  give  his  hearty  consent  to 
it."  Deeming  this  proposition  to  be  one  of  grave  importance, 
the  Synod  deferred  the  consideration  of  it  until  the  following 
year.  In  the  mean  while  the  overture  was  printed,  and  Mr. 
Dickinson  published  an  answer  to  it,  although  he  was  an  earn- 
est Calvinist  and  cordially  assented  to  the  system  of  doctrine 
set  forth  in  the  Confession  and  the  Catechisms  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly.  When  this  subject  again  came  before  the 
Synod,  it  was  referred  to  a  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Dickinson 
was  a  member.  After  an  evidently  careful  survey  of  the  whole 
matter,  the  committee  agreed  upon  a  unanimous  report,  and 
presented  the  overture  with  such  alterations  as  secured  for  it 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV.  JONATHAN  DICKINSON.     I2i 

the  assent  of  the  entire  Synod,  with  the  exception  of  one 
member,  who  declared  that  he  was  not  prepared  to  vote.  The 
changes  made  in  the  overture  are  ascribed  to  the  ground  taken 
by  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  the  paper  as  adopted  by  the  Synod  is 
known,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  "  the  Adopting  Act" 

The  record  of  this  act  is  accompanied  by  the  following 
,  minute :  "  The  Synod,  observing  that  unanimity,  peace,  and 
unity  which  appeared  in  all  their  consultations  and  determina- 
tions relating  to  the  affair  of  the  Confession,  did  unanimously 
agree  in  giving  thanks  to  God  in  solemn  prayer  and  praises." 

It  was  Mr.  Dickinson's  constant  aim  to  promote  harmony 
among  his  brethren,  and  to  engage  them  in  earnest  endeavors 
for  the  advancement  of  sincere  and  fervent  piety  and  of  sound 
learning.  He  was  a  man  of  great  practical  wisdom,  and  of 
untiring  industry.  These  qualities,  together  with  his  learning 
and  piety,  gave  him  a  commanding  influence  in  the  Church  and 
in  the  community  at  large,  and  enabled  him  to  accomplish  the 
great  and  good  work  which  in  the  providence  of  God  he  was 
called  to  do. 

He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  missionary  labor  among  the 
Indians,  and  with  his  younger  yet  intimate  friends,  Messrs. 
Pemberton  and  Burr,  he  made  a  successful  appeal  to  the  Hon- 
orable Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  *  in  behalf 
of  the  Indians  on  Long  Island,  in  New  Jersey,  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania. The  three  who  united  in  this  appeal,  and  who  were 
afterwards  united  in  other  important  labors,  were  appointed 
correspondents  of  the  Society,  and  they  were  authorized  to 
employ  missionaries  to  instruct  the  Indians,  in  whose  welfare 
they  had  taken  so  deep  an  interest.  The  first  missionary  em- 
ployed by  them  was  the  Rev.  Azariah  Horton  ;  the  second,  the 
Rev.  David  Brainerd,  whose  name  is  so  dear  to  all  friends  of 
Christian  missions.  From  the  time  that  Mr.  Brainerd  came  to 
New  Jersey  he  was  ever  a  welcome  guest  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Dickinson ;  and  their  intimate  friendship  lasted  till  death. 

Mr.  Dickinson  was  also  an  earnest  advocate  and  defender  of 
revivals ;  that  is  to  say,  of  those  remarkable  religious  excite- 

*  Formed  at  Edinburgh  in  1709. 
VOL.  I. — 9 


122        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ments  which  from  time  to  time  have  been  witnessed  in  the 
churches  of  Christ,  when  the  truth  of  God  accompanied  with 
unusual  power  from  on  high  has  aroused  the  attention  of  the 
hearers  to  the  most  serious  and  devout  contemplation  of  their 
spiritual  condition,  and  has  led  them,  sometimes  in  large  num- 
bers, to  seek  a  vital  union  with  Christ,  if  unconverted,  or  clearer 
evidence  of  such  union,  if  they  are  already  one  with  Him, 
through  sanctification  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  a  belief  of  the 
truth. 

It  can  therefore  occasion  no  surprise  to  learn  that  Mr.  Dick- 
inson was  earnestly  desirous  that  his  own  Church  should  share 
in  that  wondrous  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  which  occurred  in  so 
many  of  the  churches  in  this  country  at  the  time  of  "the  Great 
Awakening,"  as  the  event  here  alluded  to  is  commonly  desig- 
nated by  the  Revivalists  and  their  friends  of  that  day.  His 
prayers  and  his  faithful  labors  were  graciously  and  abundantly 
rewarded.  Writing  to  Mr.  Foxcroft,  of  Boston,  September  4, 
1740,  he  says,  "  I  have  had  more  young  people  address  me  for 
direction  in  their  spiritual  concerns  in  this  three  months  than 
in  thirty  years  before."  (See  Dr.  Hatfield's  "  History.")  By 
invitation  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  Mr.  Whitefield  preached  on  two 
•different  occasions  at  Elizabethtown. 

Although  warmly  in  favor  of  revivals,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  not 
indifferent  to  the  abuses  and  errors  sometimes  connected  with 
them ;  and  to  guard  his  own  people  and  others  against  these 
errors,  he  prepared  and  published  a  discourse  from  the  words, 
"  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are 
the  children  of  God."  A  second  edition  was  published  in  1743. 
It  was  entitled  "  The  Witness  of  the  Spirit.  A  Sermon  preached 
at  Newark,  May  7,  1740."  It  gave  offence  to  some  of  the 
friends  of  revivals ;  and  even  by  the  Tennents  it  was  regarded 
as  being  of  a  hurtful  tendency  to  the  interests  of  religion. 
(See  Webster's  "History,"  pages  148  and  152.)  Yet  in  the 
estimation  of  the  most  sober-minded  advocates  of  revivals, 
the  views  entertained  by  Mr.  Dickinson  are  in  entire  accord 
with  the  teachings  of  the  gospel. 

As  a  preacher,  and  as  a  theological  writer,  Mr.  Dickinson 
attained  to  great  distinction.  He  was  esteemed  one  of  the  best 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV.  JONATHAN  DICKINSON.     i2$ 

preachers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  ablest  defender 
of  its  doctrine  and  order.      Several  of  his  works  were  repub- 
lished  in  Great  Britain,  and  were  much  commended. 
The  following  is  a  list  of  his  published  works : 

1.  In  1722.     The  sermon  already  spoken  of  as  preached  before  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia  on  "  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdiction." 

2.  In  1724.    "  A  Defence  of  Presbyterian  Ordination,"  published  at  Boston,  being 
a  reply  to  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Modest  Proof  of  the  Order  and  Government 
settled  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles  in  the  Church."     This  was  followed  by  another 
from  Mr.  Dickinson's  pen,  both  of  which  were  afterwards  revised,  enlarged,  and 
published  by  the  author. 

3.  In  1 729.    "  An  Answer  to  the  Rev.  John  Thomson's  Overture  urging  the  Synod 
to  adopt  by  a  Public  Agreement  the  Standards  of  the  Church  of  Scotland." — 
R.  Webster. 

4.  In  1732.    A  work  entitled  "  The  Reasonableness  of  Christianity,  in  Four  Ser- 
mons.    Wherein  the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God,  the  Apostasy  of  Man,  and  the 
Credibility  of  the  Christian  Religion  are  demonstrated  by  Rational  Considerations, 
and  the  Divine  Mission  of  our  Blessed  Saviour  proved  by  Scripture  Arguments, 
both  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,"  with  a  preface  by  Mr.  Foxcroft,  of 
Boston,  and  published  in  that  city. 

Of  these  discourses  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hatfield  makes  these  remarks :  "  They  are  ad- 
mirable discourses,  learned,  discriminating,  and  logical ;  full  of  pith  and  power ; 
pointed  and  impressive.  Happy  the  people  favored  with  the  ministry  of  such  a 
teacher !  Happy  the  children  whose  early  years  were  blessed  with  such  instruc- 
tion!" 

5.  In  1733.    "  The  Scripture  Bishop  vindicated,"  published  at  Boston. — Dr.  Hat- 
field. 

6.  In  1733.    A  sermon  preached  at  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Ruth  Pierson,  the  wife  of 
his  friend  the  Rev.  John  Pierson,  of  Woodbridge,  New  Jersey,  and  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.    Printed  at  New  York. — Dr. 
Green's  "  Notes." 

7.  In  1735.     "  Remarks  on  a  Letter  to  a  Friend  in  the  Country,  containing  the 
Substance  of  a  Sermon  preached  at   Philadelphia,  in   the    Congregation  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hemphill."     Published  September,  1735. 

8.  In  1736.    A  sermon  preached  at  Newark,  Wednesday,  June  2,  1736,  and  pub- 
lished with  the  title,  "  The  Vanity  of  Human  Institutions  in  the  Worship  of  God." 

9.  In  1737.     A  defence  of  this  sermon. 

10.  In  February,  1737-38.     A  second  defence  of  this  sermon,  entitled  "The 
Reasonableness  of  Non-conformity  to  the  Church  of  England  in  Point  of  Worship." 

1 1.  In  1740.     His  sermon  on  the  "  Witness  of  the  Spirit,"  of  which  mention  has 
already  been  made. 

12.  In  1741.     "The  True  Scripture  Doctrine  concerning  some  Important  Points 
of  Christian  Faith,  particularly  Eternal  Election,  Original  Sin,  Grace  in  Conversion, 
Justification  by  Faith,  and  the  Saint's  Perseverance,  represented  and  applied  in  Five 
Discourses."     This  able  work  has  been  several  times  republished  in  this  country 
and  in  Scotland. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

13.  In  1742.     "  A  Display  of  God's  Special  Grace,  in  a  Familiar  Dialogue  be- 
tween a  Minister  and  a  Gentleman  of  his  Congregation.    About  the  Work  of  God 
in  the  Conviction  and  Conversion  of  Sinners,  so  remarkably  of  late  begun  and 
going  on  in  these  American  Parts.     Wherein  the  Objections  against  some  Uncom- 
mon Appearances  among  us  are  distinctly  considered,  Mistakes  rectified,  and  the 
Work  itself  particularly  proved  to  be  from  the  Holy  Spirit :  with  one  Addition,  in  a 
Second  Conference,  relating  to  Sundry  Antinomian  Principles  beginning  to  obtain 
in  some  Places." 

It  was  published  first  at  Boston,  and  a  second  time  at  Philadelphia,  in  1743. 
The  first  edition  was  without  the  author's  name,  but  with  an  attestation  by  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Coleman,  Sewell,  Prince,  Webb,  Cooper,  Foxcroft,  and  Gee,  all  ministers 
of  Boston,  and  most  of  them  men  of  note. 

The  second  edition  appeared  having  the  hearty  commendation  of  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Gilbert  and  William  Tennent,  Samuel  and  John  Blair,  Treat,  and  Finley. 

Of  this  work  Dr.  Green,  in  his  "  Notes,"  observes  that  "  no  cotemporaneous 
publication  was  probably  so  much  read,  or  had  as  much  influence." 

14.  In  1743.     "The  Nature  and  Necessity  of  Regeneration,  considered  in  a 
Sermon  from  John  iii.  3,  preached  at  Newark,  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Presbytery  there. 
To  which  are  added  some  Remarks  on  a  Discourse  of  Dr.  Waterland's,  entitled  and 
explained  according  to  Scripture  Antiquity." 

Rev.  Dr.  Hatfield  observes,  "  Dr.  Waterland's  book  had  been  imported  by 
the  Episcopal  ministry,  and  circulated  as  an  antidote  to  the  revival  doctrines  of 
Whitefield  and  his  sympathizers.  Dickinson's  drew  forth,  in  1744,  from  the 
Rev.  John  Wetmore,  rector  of  the  parish  church  of  Rye,  New  York,  a  defence 
of  Waterland's  discourse  on  'Regeneration.'  This  was  answered  promptly  by 
Mr.  Dickinson." 

In  1745  he  published  his  "Familiar  Letters  to  a  Gentleman,  upon  a  Variety  of 
Seasonable  and  Important  Subjects  in  Religion."  A  work  of  great  ability,  in  which 
the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  the  Doctrine  of  God's  Sovereign  Grace  in  the  Re- 
demption of  Men,  the  Way  of  Salvation,  and  the  Dangers  of  Antinomianism  are 
fully  set  forth.  It  has  been  reprinted  several  times,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  It 
is  from  a  print  in  the  Glasgow  edition  of  this  work  that  the  portrait  of  President 
Dickinson  in  the  College  collection  of  portraits,  and  the  portraits  of  him  in  several 
sketches  of  his  life  published  in  this  country,  were  copied. 

In  this  same  year  he  published  his  work  entitled  "  A  Vindication  of  God's 
Sovereign  Free  Grace.  In  some  Remarks  upon  Mr.  J.  Beach's  Sermon,  with  some 
Brief  Reflections  upon  Mr.  H.  Caner's  Sermon,  and  on  a  pamphlet  entitled  '  A 
Letter  from  Aristocles  to  Anthades.'  "  This  letter  was  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  This  work  called  forth  a  reply  by 
Dr.  Johnson,  which  induced  Mr.  Dickinson  to  prepare  "  A  Second  Vindication  of 
God's  Sovereign  Free  Grace,"  which  was  published  after  his  death  by  his  brother, 
the  Rev.  Moses  Dickinson. 

HIS    DEATH. 

Mr.  Dickinson  died  of  pleurisy,  October  7,  1747,  in  the  six- 
tieth year  of  his  age.  In  reply  to  an  inquiry  made  by  a  friend 
who  visited  him  when  he  was  on  his  dying  bed,  he  said,  "  Many 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  REV.  JONATHAN  DICKINSON.     ^5 

days  have  passed  between  God  and  my  soul,  in  which  I  have 
solemnly  dedicated  myself  to  Him,  and  I  trust  what  I  have 
committed  unto  Him  He  is  able  to  keep  until  that  day." 

The  following  notice  of  his  death  and  burial  appeared  in  the 
"  New  York  Weekly  Post  Boy"  of  October  12,  1747 : 

"  ELIZABETHTOWN,  IN  NEW  JERSEY,  October  10. 

"  On  Wednesday  morning  last,  about  four  o'clock,  died  here,  of  a  pleuritic  ill- 
ness, that  eminently  learned  and  pious  minister  of  the  Gospel  and  President  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of 
his  age,  who  had  been  Pastor  of  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  Town  for 
nearly  forty  years,  and  was  the  Glory  and  Joy  of  it.  In  him  conspicuously  appeared 
those  natural  and  acquired  moral  and  spiritual  Endowments  which  constitute  a 
truly  excellent  and  valuable  man,  a  good  Scholar,  an  eminent  Divine,  and  a 
serious,  devout  Christian.  He  was  greatly  adorned  with  the  gifts  and  graces  of 
the  Heavenly  Master,  in  the  Light  whereof  he  appeared  as  a  star  of  superior 
Brightness  and  Influence  in  the  Orb  of  the  Church,  which  has  sustained  a  great 
and  unspeakable  Loss  in  his  Death.  He  was  of  uncommon  and  of  very  extensive 
usefulness.  He  boldly  appeared  in  the  Defence  of  the  great  and  important  Truths 
of  our  most  holy  Religion,  and  the  Gospel  Doctrines  of  the  free  and  sovereign 
Grace  of  God.  He  was  a  zealous  Professor  of  godly  Practice  and  godly  Living, 
and  a  bright  ornament  to  his  Profession.  In  Times  and  cases  of  Difficulty  he  was 
a  wise  and  able  Counsellor.  By  his  death  our  Infant  College  is  deprived  of  the 
Benefit  and  Advantage  of  his  superior  Accomplishments,  which  afforded  a  favor; 
able  prospect  of  its  future  Flourishing  and  Prosperity  under  his  Inspection.  His 
remains  were  decently  interred  here  yesterday,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pierson,  of 
Woodbridge,  preached  his  funeral  sermon  ;  and  as  he  lived  desired  of  all,  so  never 
any  Person  in  these  Parts  died  more  lamented.  Our  Fathers,  where  are  they  ? 
and  the  Prophets,  do  they  live  forever?"* 

Dr.  Hatfield  remarks  that  "  this  notice  was  probably  written 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  of  New  York,  with  whom  Mr. 
Dickinson  had  been  intimately  associated  for  years  in  the  de- 
fence of  the  truth  and  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  Christ." 

This  testimony  to  the  worth  of  Mr.  Dickinson  is  not  exagger- 
ated. He  was  all  that  he  is  here  represented  to  have  been. 
President  Edwards,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellamy,  Dr.  John  Erskine,  of 
Scotland,  Governor  Belcher,  all  confirm  its  truthfulness.  Ed- 
wards speaks  of  him  as  the  late  learned  and  very  excellent  Mr. 
Jonathan  Dickinson.  Bellamy  calls  him  the  great  Mr.  Dickin- 
son. Erskine,  speaking  of  Dickinson  and  Edwards,  says,  "  The 

*  Dr.  Stearns's  "First  Church,  Newark,"  and  Dr.  Hatfield's  "  History  of  Eliza- 
beth." 


126       HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

British  Isles  have  produced  no  such  writers  on  divinity  in  the 
eighteenth  century."  Belcher,  in  his  letter  of  the  I3th  of  No- 
vember, 1747,  to  Mr.  Pemberton,  speaks  of  him  as  "  that  eminent 
servant  of  God,  the  learned  and  pious  Dickinson." 

"  It  may  be  doubted,"  says  Dr.  Sprague,  "  whether,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  elder  Edwards,  Calvinism  has  ever  found 
an  abler  or  more  efficient  champion  in  this  country  than  Jona- 
than Dickinson."  If  the  writer  may  venture  to  institute  a 
comparison  between  those  two  admirable  men :  for  profound 
thinking,  but  not  always  correct,  he  would  assign  the  palm  to 
Edwards ;  but  for  sound  judgment  and  practical  wisdom,  to 
Dickinson.  Both  of  them  were  eminently  good,  and  both 
eminently  great. 

From  the  autobiography  of  the  Reverend  Jacob  Green,  in 
early  life  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Dickinson's,  and  the  father  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  the  eighth  President  of  the  College,  it 
appears  that  both  Mr.  Dickinson  and  Mr.  Burr  differed  from 
President  Edwards  in  regard  to  the  qualifications  requisite  for 
admission  to  the  sacraments;  and  that  in  regard  to  this  im- 
portant question  they  held,  or  inclined  to,  the  views  of  Mr. 
Stoddard,  the  maternal  grandfather  of  President  Edwards. 


C  HAPTER    VI. 

ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE  OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 

UPON  the  decease  of  President  Dickinson,  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr  took  charge  of  the  College,*  and  the  students  were  re- 
moved from  Elizabethtown  to  Newark,  the  place  of  Mr.  Burr's 
residence.  Whether  Mr.  Burr  was  formally  invested  with  the 
office  of  President  at  this  time  is  uncertain,  there  being  no  Col- 
lege records  of  that  date,  or  other  cotemporary  authority  to 
determine  this  question.  But  it  is  certain  that  he  discharged 
the  duties  of  the  President  while  the  College  was  yet  under  the 
first  charter. 

The  charter  given  by  Governor  Belcher  was  accepted  by  the 
Trustees  therein  named  on  the  I3th  of  October,  1748,  O.  S., 
and  on  the  Qth  of  November  following,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  at  Newark,  Mr.  Burr  was  unanimously  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  as  reorganized  under  the  second  charter. 

In  his  sketch  of  the  College,  Dr.  Green  observes : 

"  It  will  be  seen  from  the  following  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees 
that  a  class  was  in  readiness  to  receive  their  Bachelor's  degree  within  one  month 
from  the  time  that  Belcher's  charter  took  effect ;  and  that  under  that  charter  the 
degrees  were  conferred  by  Mr.  Burr  on  the  very  day  that  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent. Everything,  therefore,  must  have  been  previously  prepared  and  arranged 
with  a  view  to  this  event." 

If  the  reverend  and  learned  author  of  this  sketch  had  had 
access  to  Governor  Belcher's  correspondence  with  Messrs. 
Burr,  Pemberton,  and  Gilbert  Tennent  respecting  the  second 
charter,  he  would  have  learned  from  that  correspondence  that 
there  was  a  class  in  readiness  to  receive  their  first  degree  in  the 

*  See  obituary  notice  of  President  Burr,  in  the  "  New  York  Mercury,"  Septem- 
ber 29,  1757,  or  Dr.  Stearns's  "  History,"  p.  206. 

127 


128        HISTORY   OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Arts  six  months  before  they  did  receive  it,  and  he  would  also 
have  known  the  reason  of  the  delay  in  conferring  upon  them 
this  distinction.* 

In  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  there  is  no  reference  or  allu- 
sion to  either  of  these  things;  yet  they  are  important  from  their 
bearing  upon  the  question,  whether  the  College  under  the  first 
charter  and  the  College  under  the  second  charter  were  one  and 
the  same  institution. 

The  following  is  the  entire  record  respecting  the  first  Com- 
mencement, and  the  conferring  of  degrees  on  that  occasion : 

"  Agreed,  that  the  commencement  for  graduating  the  candidates,  that  had  been 
examined  and  approved  for  that  purpose,  go  on  to-day. 

"  It  was  accordingly  opened  this  forenoon  by  the  president  with  prayer,  and  pub- 
lickly  reading  of  the  charter  in  the  meeting  house. 

"  Adjourned  till  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

"  In  the  afternoon  the  president  delivered  a  handsome  and  elegant  Latin  Ora- 
tion. And  after  the  customary  scholastic  disputations,  the  following  gentlemen 
were  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  viz.,  Enos  Ayres,  Israel  Read, 
Benjamin  Chestnut,  Richard  Stockton,  Hugh  Henry,  Daniel  Thane. 

"  After  which  his  Excellency  the  Governor  was  pleased  to  accept  of  a  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts ;  this  was  succeeded  by  a  salutatory  oration  by  Mr.  Thane,  and  the 
whole  concluded  with  prayer  by  the  president." 

The,  above-named  gentlemen,  the  first  graduates  of  the  Col- 
lege, were  prepared  to  receive  this  their  first  academic  honor 
while  the  first  charter  was  yet  in  force.  Apart  from  the  evi- 
dence on  this  head  furnished  by  Governor  Belcher's  letters, 
referred  to  above,  the  fact  that  they  were  admitted  to  their  first 
degree  on  the  very  day  that  Mr.  Burr  was  chosen  and  inaugu- 
rated President  of  the  College  under  the  second  charter  is  suffi- 
cient to  establish  the  truth  of  this  statement.  It  appears,  also, 
that  this  honor  was  conferred  after  the  candidates  had  been  ex- 
amined and  approved.  By  whom,  and  under  whose  authority, 
was  this  examination  held?  Assuredly  not  by  the  authority  of 
the  Trustees  acting  under  the  second  charter,  or  by  persons 
designated  by  them.  For  at  the  meeting  on  the  1 3th  of  Octo- 
ber— their  only  one  previous  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Burr  and  the 
holding  of  the  first  Commencement — no  provision  whatever  was 

*  See  extracts  from  Governor  Belcher's  letters,  in  the  third  chapter  of  this  work. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


I29 


made  for  this  examination.  The  candidates  must  therefore  have 
been  examined  and  approved  by  the  President  and  others  acting 
under  an  authority  given  in  the  first  charter,  although  they 
were  admitted  to  their  first  degree  in  the  Arts  by  a  vote  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  second  charter,  the  transition  of  the  College 
from  the  control  of  the  one  to  that  of  the  other  being  com- 
pleted on  the  very  day  on  which  the  degrees  were  conferred. 

"  Its  first  Commencement,"  says  Mr.  Moore,  the  Librarian  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  "  was  celebrated  with  circumstances  of  great  pomp  and  cere- 
mony equally  novel  and  interesting.  The  following  report  of  the  proceedings  was 
prepared  at  the  request  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  by  WILLIAM  SMITH,  at  that 
time  a  leading  lawyer  of  the  New  York  Bar,  and  published  in  the  principal  New 
York  newspaper." 

[From  Parker's  Gazette  and  Post  Boy,  Nov.  21,  1748.] 

"  MR.  PARKER  : 

"As  the  Acts  of  a  publick  Commencement  are  little  known  in  these  Parts, perhaps  the 
following  Relation  from  an  Eye  and  Ear  Witness,  may  be  agreeable  to  many  of 
your  Readers. 

"On  Wednesday  the  ninth  Instant,  was  held  at  Newark,  the  first  commencement 
of  the  College  of  New- Jersey ;  at  which  was  present  his  Excellency  JONATHAN 
BELCHER,  Esq.,  Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  said  Province,  and 
President  of  the  Trustees,  and  sixteen  Gentlemen,  being  other  Trustees  named 
in  the  Royal  CHARTER  :  Who  after  they  had  all  taken  and  subscribed  the  Oaths  to 
the  Government,  and  made  and  signed  the  Declaration  which  are  appointed  by 
divers  Statutes  of  Great  Britain,  and  had  taken  the  particular  Oath  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  their  Trust,  all  which  were  required  by  the  said  Charter,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Election  of  a  President  of  the  said  College ;  whereupon  the  Reverend 
Mr.  AARON  BURR,  was  unanimously  chosen. 

"  Which  being  done,  his  Excellency  was  preceded  from  his  Lodgings  at  the 
President's  House ;  first  by  the  Candidates  walking  in  Couples  uncovered ;  next 
followed  the  Trustees  two  by  two  being  covered,  and  last  of  all  his  Excellency  the 
Governor,  with  the  President  at  his  Left  Hand.  At  the  Door  of  the  Place  ap- 
pointed for  the  Publick  Acts,  the  procession  (amidst  a  great  number  of  Spectators 
there  gathered)  was  inverted,  the  Candidates  parting  to  the  Right  and  Left  Hand, 
and  the  Trustees  in  like  Manner.  His  Excellency  first  entered  with  the  President, 
the  Trustees  next  following  in  the  Order  in  which  they  were  ranged  in  the  Char- 
ter; and  last  of  all  the  Candidates.  Upon  the  Bell  ceasing,  and  the  Assembly 
being  composed,  the  President  began  the  Publick  Acts  by  solemn  Prayer  to  God 
in  the  English  Tongue,  for  a  Blessing  upon  the  publick  Transactions  of  the  Day ; 
upon  his  Majesty  King  GEORGE  the  Second,  and  the  Royal  Family;  upon  the 
British  Nations  and  Dominions ;  upon  the  Governor  and  Government  of  New- 
Jersey  ;  upon  all  Seminaries  of  true  Religion  and  good  Literature;  and  par- 
ticularly upon  the  infant  College  of  New- Jersey. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"Which  being  concluded,  the  President  attended  in  the  Pulpit  with  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Thomas  Arthur,  who  had  been  constituted  Clerk  of  the  Corporation,  desired 
in  the  English  tongue,  the  Assembly  to  stand  up  and  hearken  to  his  Majesty's 
Royal  CHARTER,  granted  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New- Jersey. 

"  Upon  which,  the  Assembly  standing,  the  Charter  was  distinctly  read  by  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Arthtir,  with  the  usual  Indorsement  by  his  Majesty's  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, and  the  Certificate  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Province,  of  its  having  been 
approved  in  Council,  with  his  Excellency's  Fiat  for  the  Province  Seal,  signed  with 
his  Excellency's  own  Hand. 

"  After  this,  the  Morning  being  spent,  the  President  signified  to  the  Assembly, 
that  the  succeeding  Acts  would  be  deferred  till  two  o'clock  in  the  Afternoon. 

"  Then  the  Procession,  in  Return  to  the  President's  House,  was  made  in  the 
Order  before  observed. 

"  The  like  procession  being  made  in  the  Afternoon  as  in  the  Morning,  and  the 
Assembly  being  seated  in  their  places,  and  composed ;  the  President  opened  the 
publick  Acts,  first  by  an  elegant  Oration  in  the  Latin  Tongue,  delivered  memoriter, 
modestly  declaring  his  Unworthiness  of,  and  unfitness  for  so  weighty  and  important 
a  Trust  as  had  been  reposed  in  him ;  apologizing  for  the  Defects  that  would  un- 
avoidably appear  in  his  part  of  the  present  Service ;  displaying  the  manifold  Ad- 
vantages of  the  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences,  in  exalting  and  dignifying  the  humane 
Nature,  enlarging  the  Soul,  improving  its  Faculties,  civilizing  Mankind,  qualifying 
them  for  the  important  Offices  of  Life,  and  rendering  them  useful  Members  of 
Church  and  State :  That  to  Learning  and  the  Arts,  was  chiefly  owing  the  vast 
Pre-eminence  of  the  polished  Nations  of  Europe,  to  the  almost  brutish  Savages  of 
America;  the  Sight  of  which  last  was  the  constant  Object  of  Horror  and  Commis- 
eration. Then  the  President  proceeded  to  mention  the  Honours  paid  by  our  An- 
cestors in  Great  Britain  to  the  Liberal  Sciences ;  by  erecting  and  endowing  those 
illustrious  Seminaries  of  Learning  which  for  many  Ages  had  been  the  Honour  and 
Ornament  of  those  happy  Islands,  and  the  source  of  infinite  Advantage  to  the 
People  there  :  Observing,  that  the  same  noble  Spirit  had  animated  their  Descend- 
ants, the  first  English  Planters  of  America  ;  who,  as  soon  as  they  were  formed  into 
a  civil  State  in  the  very  infancy  of  Time,  had  wisely  laid  Religion  and  Learning 
at  the  Foundation  of  their  Commonwealth ;  and  had  always  regarded  them  as  the 
firmest  pillars  of  their  Church  and  State — That  hence  very  early  arose  Harvard 
College,  in  New- Cambridge,  and  afterwards  Yale  College,  in  New- Haven,  which 
have  now  flourished  with  growing  Reputation  for  many  Years,  and  have  sent  forth 
many  hundreds  of  learned  Men  of  various  Stations  and  Characters  in  Life,  that  in 
different  Periods  have  proved  the  Honour  and  Ornament  of  their  Country,  and  of 
which,  the  one  or  the  other  had  been  the  ALMA  MATER  of  most  of  the  Literati 
then  present.  That  Learning,  like  the  Sun  in  its  Western  Progress,  had  now  begun 
to  dawn  upon  the  Province  of  New- Jersey,  through  the  happy  Influence  of  its 
generous  Patron  their  most  excellent  Governor ;  who  from  his  own  Experience  and 
an  early  Acquaintance  with  Academic  Studies,  well  knowing  the  Importance  of  a 
learned  Education,  and  being  justly  sensible  that  in  nothing  he  could  more  sub- 
serve to  the  Honour  and  Interest  of  his  Majesty's  Government,  and  the  real  Good 
and  Happiness  of  his  Subjects  in  New- Jersey,  than  by  granting  them  the  best 
Means  to  render  themselves  a  religious,  wise  and  knowing  people ;  Had  therefore, 
upon  his  happy  Accession  to  his  Government,  made  the  Erection  of  a  College  in 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR,     j^j 

this  Province  for  the  Instruction  of  Youth  in  the  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences,  the 
immediate  Object  of  his  Attention  and  Care  :  The  clearest  Demonstration  whereof 
they  had  by  the  Grant  of  his  most  gracious  Majesty's  ROYAL  CHARTER  in  the 
Morning  published  in  that  Assembly,  which  had  been  conveyed  to  them  through 
his  Excellency's  Hands;  which  appears  to  have  been  founded  in  the  noblest 
Munificence,  granting  the  most  ample  Privileges  consistent  with  the  natural  and 
religious  Rights  of  Mankind,  and  calculated  for  the  most  extensive  Good  of  all  his 
Majesty's  Subjects.  That  therein  we  see  the  Ax  laid  to  the  Root  of  that  ANTICHRIS- 
TIAN  BIGOTRY  that  had  in  every  Age  (wherever  it  had  prevailed)  been  the  Parent 
of  Persecution,  the  Bane  of  Society,  and  the  Plague  of  Mankind :  That  by  the 
Tenour  of  his  Majesty's  Charter,  it  could  assume  no  Place  in  the  College  of 
New- Jersey ;  but  as  a.  foul  Fiend  was  banished  to  its  native  Region,  that  infernal 
PIT  from  whence  it  sprung. 

"  These,  and  many  other  Particulars  having,  more  Oratorio,  taken  up  about 
three  Quarters  of  an  Hour,  and  the  printed  Theses  being  dispersed  among  the 
Learned  in  the  Assembly,  the  Candidates,  by  the  Command  of  the  President,  en- 
tered upon  the  publick  Disputations  in  Latin,  in  which  six  Questions  in  Philosophy 
and  Theology  were  debated.  One  of  which  was : 

"  '  An  Libertas  agendi  Secundum  Dictamina  Conscienticz,  in  Rebus  mere  religi- 
osis,  ab  ulla  Potestate  huntana  coerceri  debeat  ?' 

"  In  English,  Whether  the  Liberty  of  acting  according  to  the  Dictates  of  Con- 
science, in  Matters  merely  religious,  ought  to  be  restrained  by  any  humane  Power? 

"  And  it  was  justly  held  and  concluded,  That  that  Liberty  ought  not  to  be  re- 
strained. Then  the  President  addressing  himself  to  the  Trustees  in  Latin,  asked, 
Whether  it  was  their  Pleasure  that  these  young  Men  who  had  performed  the  pub- 
lick  Exercises  in  Disputation  should  be  admitted  to  the  Degree  of  Batchelor  of 
the  Arts  ? 

"  Which  being  granted  by  his  Excellency  in  the  name  of  all  the  Trustees  present, 
the  President  descended  from  the  Pulpit,  being  seated  with  his  Head  covered,  re- 
ceived them  two  by  two;  and  according  to  the  Authority  to  him  committed  by  the 
Royal  Charter,  after  the  Manner  of  the  Academies  in  England,  admitted  six  young 
Scholars  to  the  Degree  of  Batchelor  of  the  Arts. 

"  In  the  next  Place,  his  Excellency  JONATHAN  BELCHER,  Esq.,  Governor  and 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  New- Jersey,  having  declared  his  desire 
to  accept  from  that  College  the  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts;  the  other  Trustees  in  a 
just  Sense  of  the  Honour  done  the  College  by  his  Excellency's  Condescension, 
most  heartily  having  granted  his  Request,  and  the  President  rising  uncovered 
addressed  himself  to  his  Excellency ;  and  according  to  the  same  Authority  com- 
mitted to  him  by  the  Royal  CHARTER,  after  the  Manner  of  the  Academies  in 
England  admitted  him  to  the  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

"  Then  the  President  ascended  the  Pulpit,  and  commanded  the  Orator  Salutato- 
rius  to  ascend  the  Rostrum,  who  being  Mr.  Daniel  Thane,  just  before  graduated 
Batchelor  of  Arts ;  he  in  a  modest  and  decent  manner,  first  apologizing  for  his 
Insufficiency,  and  then  having  spoken  of  the  Excellency  of  the  liberal  Arts  and 
Sciences,  and  of  the  Numberless  Benefits  they  yield  to  Mankind  in  private  and 
social  life ;  addressed  himself  in  becoming  Salutations  and  Thanks  to  his  Excel- 
lency and  the  Trustees,  the  President  and  whole  Assembly :  All  which  being  per- 
formed in  good  Latin  from  his  Memory  in  a  handsome  oratorical  Manner  in  the 


1^2        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Space  of  about  half  an  Hour.  The  President  concluded  in  English,  with  Thanks- 
giving to  Heaven  for  the  Favours  received  and  Prayers  to  God  for  a  Blessing  upon 
the  Scholars  that  had  received  the  publick  Honours  of  that  Day,  and  for  the  Smiles 
of  Heaven  upon  the  infant  College  of  New- Jersey,  and  dismissed  the  Assembly. 
All  which  being  performed  to  the  great  Satisfaction  of  all  present,  his  Excellency 
with  the  Trustees  and  Scholars,  returned  to  the  House  of  the  President  in  the  Order 
observed  in  the  Morning;  where,  after  sundry  BY- LAWS  were  made,  chiefly  for 
regulating  the  Studies  and  Manners  of  the  Students,  they  agreed  upon  a  Corpora- 
tion Seal  with  this  Device :  In  the  upper  Part  of  the  Circle,  a  Bible  spread  open, 
with  Latin  Characters  inscribed  on  the  Left  Side,  signifying  the  Old  Testament,  and 
on  the  right  side  the  New,  with  this  Motto  over  it:  VITVE  LUMEN  MORTUIS  REDDIT; 
with  a  view  to  that  Text,  Who  hath  abolished  Death,  and  hath  brought  Life  and 
Immortality  to  Light  through  the  Gospel.  Underneath  on  one  Side  a  Table  with 
Books  standing  thereon,  to  signify  the  proper  Business  of  the  Students ;  on  the 
other  a  Diploma,  with  the  College  Seal  appended  over  it,  being  written  MERITI 
PREMIUM,  to  signify  that  the  Degrees  to  be  conferred  are  only  to  be  to  those  that 
deserve  them.  On  the  outside  of  the  Circle,  SIGILLUM  COLLEGII  NEO  C^ESARI- 
ENSIS  IN  AMERICA;  the  Seal  of  the  College  of  New- Jersey,  in  America;  and  then 
appointed  the  succeeding  Commencement  to  be  at  New-Brunswick  on  the  last 
Wednesday  of  September  next.  Thus  the  first  Appearance  of  a  College  in  New- 
Jersey  having  given  universal  Satisfaction,  even  the  Unlearned  being  pleased  with 
the  external  Solemnity  and  Decorum  which  they  saw,  'tis  hoped  that  this  infant 
College  will  meet  with  due  Encouragement  from  all  publick  spirited  generous 
Minds ;  and  that  the  Lovers  of  Mankind  will  wish  its  Prosperity,  and  contribute  to 
its  Support." 

In  the  evening  of  Commencement-day  the  Trustees  held 
another  session,  and  took  into  consideration  several  impor- 
tant measures  for  the  welfare  of  the  College,  the  first  of  them 
having  reference  to  its  government,  the  minute  respecting 
which  is  as  follows  : 

"  A  set  of  laws  were  laid  before  the  Trustees  for  their  approbation;  and,  after  a 
second  and  third  reading,  and  some  alterations  and  amendments,  they  were  unani- 
mously received,  and  ordered  to  be  inserted  with  the  minutes,  as  the  laws  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey." 

It  is  morally  certain  that  these  laws  were  prepared  by  Presi- 
dent Burr,  and  that  they  were  the  product  of  his  experience 
in  conducting  the  government  of  the  College  for  the  twelve 
months  preceding. 

The  following  were  the  rules  relating  to  the  admission  of 
students : 

"  I.  None  may  expect  to  be  admitted  into  College  but  such  as  being  examined 
by  the  President  and  Tutors  shall  be  found  able  to  render  Virgil  and  Tully's  Ora- 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


133 


tions  into  English ;  and  to  turn  English  into  true  and  grammatical  Latin ;  and  to 
be  so  well  acquainted  with  the  Greek  as  to  render  any  part  of  the  four  Evangelists 
in  that  language  into  Latin  or  English ;  and  to  give  the  grammatical  connexion  of 
the  words. 

"  2.  Every  student  [that]  enters  College  shall  transcribe  the  Laws,  which  being 
signed  by  the  President,  shall  be  testimony  of  his  admission,  and  shall  be  kept  by 
him,  while  he  remains  a  member  of  the  College,  as  the  rule  of  his  Behavior." 

So  far  as  a  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  is  concerned,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  any  advance  has  been  made  in  the  requisites 
for  admission  into  the  Freshman  or  lowest  class  since  the  time 
that  the  first  of  these  two  rules  was  adopted.  For  although 
a  more  extensive  reading  of  authors  in  these  languages  is  now 
required  of  candidates,  yet  the  instances  are  very  rare  in  which 
they  are  found  able  to  translate  any  part  of  the  four  Gospels 
from  Greek  into  Latin,  or  to  turn  English  into  true  and  gram- 
matical Latin.  In  those  days  a  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek 
was  more  generally  and  highly  appreciated  by  educated  men  than 
it  is  now;  not  that  the  first  classical  scholars  of  those  times  were 
superior  or  even  equal  to  the  best  in  our  own  times  in  matters  of 
critical  nicety  and  in  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  gram- 
matical structure  of  these  ancient  languages.  Many  a  man  can 
speak  his  own  language  well  and  fluently,  and  with  readiness 
quote  from  eminent  writers  passages  committed  by  him  to  mem- 
ory, who  possesses  little  or  no  ability  to  analyze  his  own  modes 
of  speech,  much  less  the  expressions  of  others,  and  weigh  with 
exactness  the  import  of  the  several  words  and  sentences.  So 
classical  scholars  of  the  last  century,  in  this  country,  could  quote 
and  speak  and  write  Latin  with  far  greater  facility  than  students 
of  the  same  relative  position  at  the  present  day  are  able  to  do, 
but  in  sound  and  thorough  criticism  they  have  been  surpassed 
by  their  successors.  What  is  wanting  in  our  schools  and  col- 
leges is  the  union  of  both  systems,  of  which  there  is  little  hope, 
seeing  the  number  and  variety  of  subjects  pressing  their  claims 
for  a  place  in  our  curriculums  of  study. 

The  next  thing,  after  adopting  a  college  code,  was  a  vote : 

"  That  the  annual  Commencement  for  the  future  be  on  the  last  Wednesday  of 
September,  and  that  the  next  Commencement  be  held  at  New  Brunswick." 

The  reason  for  selecting  the  last  day  of  September  as  the 


HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

day  for  the  annual  Commencement  was  probably  owing  to  the 
circumstance  that  at  that  time  the  Commencement  at  Harvard 
took  place  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  September  in  each  year, 
and  that  at  Yale  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  the  same  month. 

Notwithstanding  Governor  Belcher's  strong  preference  for 
Princeton  as  the  permanent  seat  of  the  College,  some  of  the 
Trustees,  perhaps  a  majority,  were  in  favor  of  locating  the 
institution  at  New  Brunswick,  and  by  holding  the  next  Com- 
mencement there  they  hoped  to  interest  the  people  of  that 
place  in  the  College,  and  to  induce  them  to  offer  liberal  pecu- 
niary aid  towards  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings. 

The  appointment  of  a  Treasurer  next  claimed  their  attention, 
and  the  minute  respecting  it  is  this : 

"  Voted,  That  the  Honorable  Andrew  Johnston,  Esq.,  be  desired  to  accept  the 
office  of  Treasurer  to  the  corporation." 

Mr.  Johnston  was  the  Treasurer  of  East  Jersey,  and  a  member 
of  the  Council,  and  in  the  list  of  Trustees  mentioned  in  Gov- 
ernor Belcher's  charter  his  name  stands  third.  He  was  present 
at  the  meeting,  on  the  I3th  of  October,  1748,  when  the  new 
charter  was  accepted,  and  was  qualified  by  taking  the  prescribed 
oaths.  He  was  not  present  at  this  meeting.  It  is  not  said 
in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  that  he  accepted  the  office  thus 
tendered  him,  but  it  is  probable  that  he  did,  as  there  is  no  men- 
tion made  of  the  appointment  of  another  person  to  this  office 
until  nearly  two  years  after,  and  then  only  incidentally,  as  seen 
in  the  following  extract  from  the  minutes: 

"  Mr.  Hude  was  appointed  to  administer  the  oaths  required  by  the  charter  to 
Messrs.  Caleb  Smith  and  Mr.  Woodruff,  Trustees,  Mr.  Sergeant,  Treasurer,  Mr. 
Sherwood  and  Mr.  Maltby,  Tutors." 

Mr.  Sergeant  was  probably  appointed  Treasurer  at  this  time, 
September  26,  1750,35  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  minutes 
before  this  meeting,  and  as  in  a  previous  minute  of  this  same 
meeting  it  is  said,  "  Rev.  John  Frelinghuysen  and  Rev.  Caleb 
Smith  chosen  Trustees  in  the  room  of  John  Kinsey,  Esq.,  de- 
ceased, and  of  the  Hon.  Andrew  Johnston,  resigned''  It  is  not 
improbable  that  Mr.  Johnston  resigned  both  offices  at  the  same 
time,  while  it  is  possible  that  he  may  never  have  acted  as  Treas- 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE  OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


135 


urer,  arid  that  the  President  of  the  College  may  have  attended 
to  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  institution  until  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Sergeant. 

The  other  items  of  business  at  this  meeting  may  be  learned 
from  the  following  extracts  from  the  minutes : 

"  Voted,  That  the  seal  prepared  by  Mr.  P.  Smith  [one  of  the  Trustees]  be 
accepted  as  the  common  seal  of  this  corporation,  and  that  the  thanks  of  the  corpo- 
ration be  returned  to  Mr.  Smith  for  his  care  in  devising  the  same. 

"  And  that  he  be  desired  to  get  two  seals  engraven,  of  the  same  device,  for  the 
use  of  the  corporation,  and  that  the  Trustees  be  answerable  for  the  expense  thereof. 

"  Voted,  That  all  diplomas  and  certificates  of  degrees  be  signed  by  the  President 
and  at  least  six  of  the  Trustees. 

"  Voted,  That  William  Smith,  Esq.,  be  appointed  to  draw  up  an  account  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Commencement,  and  to  get  it  into  the  '  New  York  Gazette'  as 
soon  as  he  conveniently  can. 

"  That  Messrs.  Pierson,  Cowell,  Johnes,  Arthur,  be  appointed  to  make  application 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Province,  now  sitting  at  Perth  Amboy,  in  order  to 
get  their  countenance  and  assistance  for  the  support  of  the  College. 

"  Voted,  That  the  following  gentlemen  be  desired  to  take  in  subscriptions  for 
the  College,  viz.,  Messrs.  Kinsey,  Hazard,  at  Philadelphia ;  P.  Van  Brugh  Living- 
ston, P.  Smith,  New  York ;  Read  and  Smith,  at  Burlington ;  Read  and  Cowell, 
at  Trenton ;  John  Stevens,  Amboy ;  Samuel  Woodruff,  Elizabethtown  ;  Thomas 
Leonard,  John  Stockton,  Esqs.,  Princeton;  James  Hude,  Esq.,  and  Thomas  Ar- 
thur, at  Brunswick;  Henderson  and  Furman,  Freehold;  John  Pierson,  Wood- 
bridge  ;  Major  Johnson,  at  Newark. 

"  That  all  the  Trustees  shall  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  obtain  benefactions 
to  the  said  College,  and  that  this  vote  go  into  the  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
gazettes. 

"  That  this  meeting  be  adjourned  to  the  third  Tuesday  in  May,  to  be  held  at 
Maidenhead  [now  Lawrenceville].  Mr.  Tennent  concluded  with  prayer." 

It  is  evident,  from  the  variety  and  importance  of  the  matters 
handled  by  the  Trustees  on  the  day  of  the  first  Commence- 
ment, that  they  must  have  devoted  themselves  very  earnestly 
to  the  business  before  them,  viz.,  the  election  of  a  President, 
his  inauguration,  the  public  reading  of  the  charter,  attendance 
on  the  Commencement  exercises,  including  the  President's 
Latin  address,  the  conferring  of  degrees,  and  the  adopting  of 
a  body  of  laws,  besides  the  various  matters  mentioned  in  the 
above  extract. 

The  next  record  in  the  minutes  is  in  these  words : 

"TRENTON,  May  18,  1749. 

"  According  to  adjournment,  met  at  Maidenhead  [Lawrenceville]  sundry  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  College,  but  were  frustrated  of  a  Quorum  by  the  absence  of  several 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

members.  The  Trustees,  however,  thought  proper  to  wait  upon  his  Excellency 
the  Governor,  who  was  come  to  Trenton  on  his  way  to  the  meeting  of  the  Corpora- 
tion, where  several  things  were  disposed  of  with  respect  to  the  College. 

"  Upon  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  President,  the  Trustees  present  do  approve 
of  Mr.  Maltby  to  be  employed  as  Tutor  of  the  College,  and  do  recommend  it  to 
the  Trustees  at  their  next  meeting  to  establish  him  in  that  capacity.  It  is  farther 
recommended  to  the  Committee  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Assembly  [of  the  Prov- 
ince], that  they  renew  their  application  to  them,  at  their  next  session,  at  Perth 
Amboy,  and  that  they  do  Expressly  request  that  a  Lottery  be  granted  them,  for  the 
service  of  the  College." 

Public  attention  had  not  yet  been  called  to  the  evils  of  the 
lottery  system ;  and,  as  a  lottery  scheme  furnished  great  facilities 
for  the  raising  of  funds,  the  Trustees  of  the  College  at  that 
time  did  not  scruple  as  to  the  propriety  of  their  taking  part  in 
one,  provided  they  could  obtain  permission  so  to  do. 

At  the  next  regular  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  at  New 
Brunswick,  September  27,  1749,  the  committee  to  ask  aid  from 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Province  was  enlarged  by  the 
addition  of  four  members,  and  was  instructed  to  apply  for  au- 
thority to  raise  by  a  lottery  a  sum  not  exceeding  three  thousand 
pounds  proc.,  equal  to  eight  thousand  dollars. 

The  application  was  made ;  but  the  final  report  to  the  Board 
on  this  subject  was,  that  "  the  Provincial  Assembly  absolutely  re- 
fused to  grant  the  petition  for  a  Lottery,"  and  that  the  committee, 
"  with  the  concurrence  of  the  generality  of  the  Trustees,  had 
agreed  to  erect  a  Lottery  in  Philadelphia  to  raise  money  for  the 
benefit  of  the  College ;  and  that  the  said  Lottery  had  been  drawn." 
This  report  was  made  at  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  at 
Newark,  September  26,  1750.  The  thanks  of  the  Board  were 
presented  to  the  gentlemen  who  took  upon  themselves  the 
management  of  the  lottery,  and  provision  was  made  for  settling 
all  matters  connected  with  it* 

It  was  ordered,  that  all  moneys  remaining  in  the  hands  of 
the  managers  after  the  expiration  of  six  months  be  paid  to  the 
Treasurer.  The  committee  appointed  to  settle  with  the  man- 
agers consisted  of  the  President,  the  Treasurer,  the  Clerk  of 
the  Board,  and  Messrs.  Woodruff  and  Neilson.  Subsequently, 

*  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  this  time  in  Pennsylvania  any  law 
prohibiting  the  drawing  of  lotteries  in  that  Province. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


'37 


viz.,  in  the  year  1753-4  (see  "Minutes  of  the  Board,"  pages  37 
and  39),  upon  a  petition  from  the  Trustees,  the  General  Court 
of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  granted  them  the  privilege  of 
drawing  a  lottery  within  the  limits  of  that  Colony,  and  in 
1761—2  the  General  Assembly  of  New  Jersey  gave  them  au- 
thority to  draw  one  in  this  Province.  What  sums  of  money 
were  received  from  these  lotteries  cannot  now  be  ascertained, 
the  books  of  the  Treasurer  at  those  periods  not  having  been 
preserved.  It  is  most  probable  that  the  College  received  but 
little,  if  any,  addition  to  its  funds  from  these  sources.  The 
last  application  to  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey  for  a  lot- 
tery was  made  in  the  winter  of  1813-14,  soon  after  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green  became  President  of  the  College,  and  it  met  with  the 
same  fate  that  most  of  the  previous  ones  had  done, — it  was 
refused. 

In  his  notes  respecting  the  College,  and  in  reference,  more 
particularly,  to  the  failure  of  the  first  efforts  made  to  obtain  aid 
from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Province,  Dr.  Green  thus 
writes : 

"  Petitions  of  the  most  urgent  kind  were  addressed  to  the  legislature  of  the  prov- 
ince of  New  Jersey  in  behalf  of  the  College.  But  even  a  petition  for  a  lottery 
was  'absolutely  rejected.'  Whatever  was  the  influence  of  Governor  Belcher  or  the 
popularity  of  President  Burr,  their  united  exertions  could  never  prevail  upon  the 
legislature  of  the  province  in  which  the  College  was  founded,  whose  name  it  bore, 
and  of  which  it  was  the  greatest  ornament,  to  show  it  patronage  or  favor  of  any 
kind.  It  is  as  grievous  to  the  writer  to  record  this  want  of  liberality  in  the  legisla- 
ture of  his  native  State,  as  it  can  be  to  any  other  inhabitant  to  read  the  record. 
But  historical  fidelity  requires  that  the  fact  should  not  be  suppressed.  All  the 
State  patronage  which  the  College  has  ever  received  shall,  in  its  proper  place,  be 
faithfully  stated.  The  writer  has  only  to  regret  that  the  statement  will  so  easily 
be  made." 

As  the  "  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Origin  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,"  from  which  the  above  is  copied,  does  not  extend 
over  a  period  of  twenty  years,  but  ends  with  the  administration 
of  President  Finley,  who  died  while  yet  President,  in  1766,  no 
allusion  or  reference  is  again  made  to  this  matter  in  the  notes 
of  President  Green,  except  the  mention  of  the  fact  that  in  the 
year  1761  the  General  Assembly  of  New  Jersey  authorized  the 
drawing  of  a  lottery  for  the  benefit  of  the  College. 
VOL.  i. — 10 


l?>8        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

To  the  view  here  presented  of  the  want  of  liberality  on  the 
part  of  the  Legislature  the  writer  of  this  history  cannot  assent; 
and  for  these  reasons.  The  College  of  New  Jersey,  although 
bearing  the  name  of  the  State,  was  never  a  State  institution. 
It  was  not  established  by  the  Legislature.  In  the  exercise  of 
its  granted  and  legitimate  powers  it  is  not  subject  to  the  control 
of  that  body,  and  therefore  has  no  special  claims  upon  its  liber- 
ality. On  the  other  hand,  after  the  American  Revolution,  the 
Legislature  confirmed  the  charter  of  the  College,  with  only 
such  changes  as  the  altered  condition  of  the  civil  affairs  of  the 
country  required,  enlarged  its  powers,  and  never  refused  to 
pass  any  measure  desired  by  its  friends  for  the  protection  of  its 
interests. 

The  good  will  uniformly  exhibited  towards  the  College  by 
the  authorities  of  the  State  calls  for  a  grateful  acknowledgment 
on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  College,  and  they  may  be  glad 
that  the  applications  to  the  Legislature  for  pecuniary  aid  were 
unsuccessful.  Had  the  aid  sought  been  granted,  this  might 
have  led  to  more  or  less  interference  by  the  Legislature  in  the 
management  of  the  institution,  under  the  plea  of  seeing  that 
the  funds  given  by  the  State  were  wisely  expended,  or  employed 
in  accordance  with  the  design  and  the  terms  of  the  different 
grants.  From  any  and  all  such  interference  the  College,  hap- 
pily, has  ever  been  free. 

The  matters  which  more  especially  demanded  and  received 
the  attention  of  the  Trustees  during  the  presidency  of  Mr. 
Burr  were  provision  for  the  instruction  of  the  students,  the 
selection  of  a  permanent  seat  for  the  College,  the  erection  of 
suitable  buildings,  and  the  raising  of  the  funds  required  for 
these  purposes. 

To  provide  the  necessary  instruction,  the  Board,  at  a  meeting 
held  September  27,  1749,  authorized  the  President,  "with  the 
advice  of  any  four  of  the  neighboring  Trustees,  to  employ  any 
such  person  or  persons  as  they  shall  think  proper  to  assist  him 
in  the  government  and  instruction  of  the  College  till  their  next 
meeting."  Previously  to  this  action,  as  appears  from  a  minute 
cited  above,  sundry  Trustees,  but  not  a  quorum,  met  Governor 
Belcher  at  Trenton,  May  18,  1749,  and  those  present  expressed 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


139 


their  approval  of  employing  Mr.  Maltby  as  a  Tutor,  and  also 
recommended  "  that  at  their  next  meeting  the  Trustees  should 
establish  him  in  that  capacity."  The  form  of  the  minute  seems 
to  indicate  that  he  had  been  assisting  President  Burr,  or  at  least 
that  he  was  expected  to  do  so,  from  that  time,  which  corre- 
sponded with  the  beginning  of  the  second  term  under  the 
second  charter.  Whether  at  their  next  meeting,  of  September 
27,  1749,  the  Trustees  did  establish  Mr.  Maltby  in  the  office  of 
Tutor,  the  minutes  of  that  meeting  do  not  indicate.  But  the 
minute,  already  cited,  authorizing  the  President  to  employ  such 
assistants  as  he  might  need,  with  the  consent  of  any  four  of  the 
neighboring  Trustees,  was  a  virtual  confirmation  of  Mr.  Maltby's 
appointment;  and  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board,  at  Newark, 
September  27,  1750,  this  gentleman  took  the  required  oaths  of 
office  as  a  College  Tutor,  as  also  did  Mr.  Samuel  Sherwood,  who 
was  chosen  a  Tutor  at  this  time. 

It  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt  whether  for  the  first  six  months 
Mr.  Burr  had  any  assistance  in  the  government  and  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  College.  He  may  have  employed  Mr.  Maltby  on 
trial  before  he  recommended  his  appointment  by  the  Trustees ; 
but  this  is  uncertain.  For  the  next  eighteen  months  he  was 
aided  by  this  gentleman,  and  from  the  beginning  of  the  third 
College  year  until  the  end  of  his  administration  there  were, 
without  any  intermission,  two  Tutors  associated  with  him,  who 
with  him  constituted  the  College  Faculty. 

The  names  of  the  several  Tutors  during  Mr.  Burr's  time  are 
John  Maltby,  Samuel  Sherwood,  Jonathan  Badger,  Alexan- 
der Gordon,  George  Duffield,  William  Thompson,  Benjamin 
Youngs  Prime,  John  Ewing,  Isaac  Smith,  and  Jeremiah  Halsey. 
Some  of  these  gentlemen  became  eminent  in  their  professions, 
and  of  them  further  mention  will  be  made  at  the  end  of  this 
memoir  of  President  Burr  and  his  administration. 

What  was  the  full  course  of  instruction  at  this  period  in  the 
history  of  the  College  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  defi- 
nitely, as  the  Faculty  minutes  of  that  time  are  lost.  But  from 
what  is  known  of  the  opinions  prevalent  among  the  early 
friends  of  the  College,  and  from  the  varied  attainments  of 
Mr.  Burr  and  of  the  Tutors  associated  with  him,  and  also  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

usual  scholastic  exercises  at  the  Commencements  of  those 
days,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  College  curriculum  em- 
braced the  study  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  the  Ele- 
ments of  Mathematics,  Natural  Philosophy,  Moral  Philosophy, 
Rhetoric  and  Logic,  together  with  declamations  and  discus- 
sions. The  students  were  also  well  instructed  in  the  doctrines 
and  precepts  of  the  Christian  faith,  their  religious  teacher  being 
the  President  of  the  College. 

In  the  school  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
established  three  years  before  the  first  charter  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  was  obtained,  the  course  of  instruction  included 
"languages,  philosophy,  and  divinity;"  and  from  a  minute  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  May  23,  1754,  it  appears  that  Mr. 
Alexander  McDowell,  the  Principal  of  the  school  at  that  time, 
was  to  continue  to  give  instruction  in  "  logic,  mathematics, 
natural  and  moral  philosophy,"  etc.,  and  that  Mr.  James  P.  Wil- 
son, just  appointed  to  assist  him,  was  "  to  teach  the  languages." 

It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
•under  the  government  and  instruction  of  President  Burr,  a  grad- 
uate of  Yale,  and  one  of  the  first  scholars  of  his  day,  the  pre- 
scribed course  would  fall  short  of  that  existing  in  the  school  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  the  aim  and  desire  of  the 
early  friends  of  the  College  to  provide  for  the  young  men  of 
the  middle  Provinces  an  education  equal  to  that  furnished  by 
Harvard  and  Yale  to  the  youth  of  New  England. 

The  view  here  presented  of  the  course  of  instruction  given  by  President  Burr 
and  his  assistants  is  confirmed  by  sundry  occasional  remarks  of  Mr.  Joseph  Ship- 
pen,  of  -Philadelphia,  a  student  of  the  College,  in  his  correspondence  with  his 
father,  Judge  Edward  Shippen,  and  with  other  friends.  It  is  only  very  recently 
(May,  1876)  that  the  writer  has  had  access  to  this  correspondence,  and  for  this  privi- 
lege he  is  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Hon.  J.  C.  G.  Kennedy,  of  Washington 
City.  . 

In  his  letters,  written  in  1750,  1751,  1752,  and  1753,  Mr.  Shippen  does  not  profess 
to  give  a  particular  account  of  the  College  curriculum,  but,  as  the  occasion  calls  for 
at,  he  mentions  the  subjects  of  study  pursued  by  his  class,  and  the  works  of  which  he 
had  need,  or  which  would  be  useful  to  him,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies.  For 
example,  he  says  to  his  father,  in  a  letter  written  in  French,  and  dated  February 
13, 1750,  at  which  time  he  was  a  member  of  the  Freshman  class,  "  But  I  must  give 
you  an  account  of  my  studies  at  the  present  time.  At  seven  in  the  morning  we 
recite  to  the  President  lessons  in  the  works  of  Xenophon,  in  Greek,  and  in  Watts' 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR,     i^ 

'  Ontology.'  The  rest  of  the  morning,  until  dinner-time,  we  study  Cicero  de  Oratore 
and  the  Hebrew  Grammar,  and  recite  our  lessons  to  Mr.  Sherman  (the  College 
Tutor).  The  remaining  part  of  the  day  we  spend  in  the  study  of  Xenophon  and 
Ontology,  to  recite  the  next  morning.  And  besides  these  things,  we  dispute  once 
every  week  after  the  syllogistic  method;  and  now  and  then  we  learn  Geography." 
Two  months  later,  April  19,  he  requests  his  father  to  send  him  Tully's  "  Orations," 
which,  he  adds,  "  I  shall  have  occasion  to  use  immediately."  In  a  subsequent 
letter,  of  May  12,  1750,  he  says,  "  I  believe  I  shall  not  want  any  more  books  till  I 
come  to  Philadelphia,  when  I  can  bring  them  with  me;  which  will  be  Gordon's 
'  Geographical  Grammar'  and  (it  may  be)  Watts'  '  Astronomy'  and  a  book  or  two  of 
Logick.  .  .  .  We  have  to-day  a  lesson  on  the  Globes." 

"  As  I  have  but  little  time  but  what  I  must  employ  in  my  studies  I  can't  enlarge, 
otherwise  I  would  give  some  account  of  our  College,  as  to  the  constitution,  method, 
and  customs,  but  must  leave  that  till  I  see  you."  In  a  letter  of  the  8th  of  June, 
he  says,  "  I  shall  learn  Horace  in  a  little  while ;  .  .  .  but  my  time  is  filled  up 
in  studying  Virgil,  Greek  Testament,  and  Rhetoric,  so  that  I  have  no  time  hardly 
to  look  over  any  French,  or  Algebra,  or  any  English  book  for  my  improvement. 
However,  I  shall  accomplish  it  soon.  .  .  .  The  President  tells  our  class  that  we  must 
go  into  Logick  this  week,  and  I  shall  have  occasion  for  Watts' '  Book  of  Logick.' " 

Such  it  seems  was  the  course  of  study  pursued  by  the  Freshman  class  in  1750. 
As  portions  of  Virgil  and  the  four  Gospels  were  required  for  admission  to  this  class, 
it  is  probable  that  at  or  near  the  end  of  the  year  they  revised  these  for  another  ex- 
amination upon  them,  in  connection  with  the  regular  studies  of  the  year.  In  the 
Sophomore  year  attention  was  paid  to  Rhetoric,  Ontology,  and  Mathematics.  In 
his  letter  6f  the  2 1st  of  December,  1750,  at  which  time  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Sophomore  class,  referring  to  a  course  of  lectures  then  being  delivered  in  Phila- 
delphia, on  several  branches  of  Natural  Philosophy,  Mr.  Shippen  remarks,  "  The 
Astronomical  parts,  I  perceive,  are  to  be  illustrated  by  a  fine  Orrery,*  which  .  .  . 
will  represent  to  you  the  most  adequate  idea  of  the  system  of  the  world  and  the 
various  motions  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,  which-  [it]  would  give  me  great  pleasure 
to  see,  because  these  things  are  a  part  of  my  studies  every  day."  It  is  probable  that 
these  subjects  were  attended  to  in  connection  with  the  study  of  the  globes  previously 
mentioned.  From  the  same  letter  it  appears  that  at  this  time  he  was  reading  the 
second  book  of  Homer,  and  would  shortly  enter  upon  the  study  of  the  third 
book,  and  that  in  the  spring  he  would  have  need  of  Martin's  "  Natural  Philosophy," 
in  two  volumes,  of  which  he  seems  to  have  a  just  appreciation  when  he  says,  "  that 
it  is  by  far  the  best  that  is  extant,  and  which,"  he  adds,  "  the  President  now  uses 
in  the  instruction  of  the  upper  [Senior]  class." 

On  the  2gth  of  May,  1751,  President  Burr  wrote  to  Mr.  James  David  Dove,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  made  an  arrangement  with  him  for  the  use  of  an  apparatus 
suited  to  the  illustration  of  a  course  of  twelve  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  by 
Mr.  Lewis  Evans.  It  does  not  appear  what  compensation  Mr.  Evans  was  to  receive 
for  his  lectures,  but  Mr.  Burr  engaged  to  pay  to  Mr.  Dove  ten  pounds  proclamation 
when  the  lectures  are  finished.  These  lectures  were  the  same  as  those  delivered 
by  Mr.  Evans  in  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  concerning  which 
Mr.  Shippen  thus  speaks  in  his  letter  to  his  father,  of  the  date  of  September  14, 

*  This  was  not  Rittenhouse's  famous  orrery. 


!42        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

1751:  "Mr.  Lewis  Evans  has  already  exhibited  eight  of  his  lectures,  ...  to 
the  general  satisfaction  of  all  attending  thereon.  And  as  to  his  Lecture  on  Elec- 
tricity, his  great  knowledge  in  it,  and  his  accurateness  in  performing  the  experi- 
ments, have  given  us  abundant  Light  into  the  Nature  and  properties  thereof,  of 
which  I  was  entirely  ignorant  before.  And  as  several  Phenomena  in  Nature  can 
be  accounted  for  from  the  knowledge  of  this  newly-discovered  Element  (I  mean 
the  Electrical  Fluid),  and  are  dependent  thereon,  I  have  taken  this  good  opportunity, 
while  Mr.  Evans  is  here,  and  has  a  globe  to  spare,  to  procure  myself  a  small  Elec- 
trical Machine,  particularly  for  my  instruction  in  this  useful  branch  of  Philosophy." 

From  a  letter  of  Governor  Belcher  to  Mr.  [Dr.]  Franklin,  of  the  date  of  January 
20,  1752,  it  appears  that  President  Burr  had  possessed  himself  of  an  Electrical 
Machine,  and  that  he  experimented  with  it  upon  the  Governor  himself,  for  his  relief 
from  the  paralysis  under  which  he  was  suffering  at  the  time.  The  relief,  however, 
afforded  by  the  use  of  electricity  in  the  Governor's  case  was  but  little,  if  any.  Dr. 
Franklin  had  kindly  offered  to  wait  upon  the  Governor  for  a  like  purpose,  and  sent 
him  one  of  his  machines,  the  "  glass  globe"  of  which  unfortunately  was  broken  on 
its  way  to  the  Governor's  residence ;  and  this  was  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Burr  proffer- 
ing his  services.  As  Mr.  Burr  instructed  the  students  in  Natural  Philosophy,  this 
doubtless  was 'the  chief  reason  for  his  purchase  of  this  Electrical  Machine.  Dr. 
Franklin's  great  discovery  of  the  identity  of  lightning  and  ordinary  electricity  was 
made  in  1752. 

In  a  letter  of  December  2,  1751,  Mr.  Shippen  says,  "Mr.  Burr  has  collected 
this  Fall  subscriptions  to  the  value  of  £200,  Penn's  currency,  for  the  apparatus, 
about  ;£ioo  whereof  Col.  Alford  very  generously  subscribed,  he  being  one  of  the 
greatest  friends  our  College  is  blessed  with."  Further  on  Mr.  Shippen  adds, 
"  I  am  beginning  to  read  Ethics  (or  Moral  Philosophy),  and  shall  have  occasion 
for  Grove's  2  vols.  on  that  branch."  Again,  in  a  letter  of  May  23,  1752,  "  Since 
you  were  here,  the  President  has  been  instructing  two  or  three  of  us  in  the  calcu- 
lation of  Eclipses,  for  which  we  made  use  of  Whiston  &  Brent's  Astronomical 
Tables."  And  in  a  letter  of  the'  25th  of  July,  1752,  to  his  father,  Mr.  Shippen, 
"  I  received  your  letter  of  the  23d  of  May,  with  Hodgson's  '  Theory  of  Navigation' 
and  Street's  '  Tables,'  for  which  I  am  very  thankful,  though  I  am  sorry  that  I 
cannot  now  employ  my  thoughts  in  studying  anything  of  them,  as  I  am  fully  en- 
gaged in  the  necessary  exercises  of  the  College."  From  this  remark  and  the  one 
preceding,  it  is  probable  that  the  calculating  of  Eclipses  and  study  of  Navigation 
were  optional  studies,  to  which  the  students  in  general  were  not  required  to  give 
attention,  but  for  instruction  in  which,  if  desired,  they  could  have  all  needed  help. 

In  August,  1752,  Mr.  Shippen,  with  the  consent  of  his  father,  and  of  Mr.  Burr, 
went  for  a  few  weeks  to  New  Rochelle,  to  be  with  a  French  family  and  learn  the 
French  language  more  perfectly. 

THE  LOCATING  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

The  second  thing  mentioned  as  an  object  of  special  interest 
at  this  time  was  the  choice  of  a  permanent  seat  for  the  College. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  at  Newark,  September  26,  1750, 
the  time  of  the  annual  Commencement,  it  was  voted, 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


143 


"  That  a  proposal  be  made  to  the  Towns  of  Brunswick  and  Princetown  to  try 
what  sum  of  money  they  can  raise  for  Building  of  the  College,  by  the  next  meeting, 
that  the  Trustees  may  be  better  able  to  judge  in  which  of  these  places  to  fix  the 
place  of  the  College." 

At  the  next  meeting,  held  at  Trenton,  May  15,  1751,  the 
Trustees  decided, 

"  That  New  Brunswick  be  the  place  for  the  building  of  the  College,  provided  the 
Inhabitants  of  said  Place  agree  with  the  Trustees  upon  the  following  terms,  viz. 
that  they  secure  to  the  College  a  Thousand  Pounds  proc.  money,  ten  acres  of  land 
contiguous  to  the  College,  and  two  hundred  acres  of  wood-land,  the  furthest  part 
of  it  not  to  be  more  than  three  miles  from  the  town." 

At  this  meeting  there  was  an  offer  made  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Princeton,  and  it  was  next  ordered, 

"  That  Mr.  Sergeant,  the  Treasurer,  and  some  other  person,  whom  he  shall  see 
fit,  view  the  above  promised  land  at  Princetown,  and  also  that  to  be  given  by  the 
Inhabitants  of  New  Brunswick,  and  make  a  report  of  the  same  to  the  Trustees  at 
their  meeting  in  September  next." 

This  meeting  was  held  at  Newark,  on  the  25th  of  September, 
at  which  time  the  following  record  was  made : 

"  When  the  Board  of  Trustees  had  laid  before  them  the  proposals  of  the  Inhabit- 
ants of  New  Brunswick,  relating  to  the  College  being  fixt  there,  for  want  of  some 
particular  steps  being  taken  respecting  that  matter,  the  Trustees  judged  that  they 
could  not  at  present  come  to  any  conclusion  in  the  affair,  and  so  deferred  the  further 
consideration  of  it  to  their  next  meeting." 

The  Trustees  also  ordered, 

"  That  Mr.  Sergeant,  with  any  person  he  shall  choose,  view  the  land  at  New 
Brunswick  and  at  Princetown,  and  make  a  report  what  they  shall  deem  an  equiva- 
lent at  the  next  meeting." 

This  is  substantially  the  same  order  with  one  given  at  the 
previous  meeting,  but  differing  in  this  respect,  as  they  were  to 
give  their  judgment  as  to  what  would  be  an  equivalent  for  the 
land  promised  the  College. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Elizabeth,  May 
14,  1752,  but  it  does  not  appear  from  the  minutes  that  any  ac- 
tion was  had  in  reference  to  the  erection  of  a  College  building. 
At  the  meeting  held  at  the  time  of  the  next  Commencement, 


144       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

September  27,  1/52,  the  following  entry  was  made  in  the  min- 
utes : 

"  The  Trustees  taking  into  consideration  that  the  people  of  New  Brunswick 
have  not  complied  with  the  terms  proposed  to  them  for  fixing  the  College  in  that 
place,  by  the  time  referred  to  in  the  offer  of  this  Board,  now  Voted,  That  they  are 
free  from  any  obligation  to  fix  the  College  at  New  Brunswick,  and  are  at  liberty  to 
place  it  where  they  please.  The  Trustees  agree  that  it  shall  be  put  to  Vote  in 
what  place  the  College  shall  be  fixed,  upon  such  conditions  as  the  Board  shall 
propose. 

"  Voted,  That  the  College  be  fixed  at  Princetown,  upon  condition  that  the  inhab- 
itants of  said  Place  secure  to  the  Trustees  those  two  hundred  acres  of  wood-land, 
and  that  Ten  Acres  of  cleared  land  which  Mr.  Sergeant  viewed ;  and  also  one 
thousand  Pounds  proc.  money.  The  one  half  of  which  sum  to  be  paid  within  two 
months  after  the  foundation  of  the  College  is  laid,  and  the  other  half  within  six 
months  afterwards ;  and  that  the  people  of  said  Place  comply  with  the  terms  of  this 
vote  within  three  months  from  this  time  by  giving  in  Bonds  for  said  money,  and 
making  a  sufficient  Title  for  said  land  to  be  received  by  such  persons  as  the  Board 
shall  appoint,  or  else  forfeit  all  privilege  from  this  Vote ;  and  that  the  Treasurer  be 
empowered  to  give  them  a  bond  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  Vote  on  the  p^rt  of  the 
Trustees. 

"  The  Trustees  appoint  Messrs.  President  Burr,  Samuel  Woodruff",  Jonathan  Ser- 
geant, Elihu  Spencer,  Caleb  Smith,  to  be  a  committee  to  transact  the  above  affair 
with  the  Inhabitants  of  Princetown,  and  that  Elizabethtown  be  the  place  for  accom- 
plishing the  same." 

At  this  meeting  Governor  Belcher  earnestly  urged  the  Trus- 
tees to  go  on  with  the  erection  of  a  College  building,  and  of  a 
house  for  the  President  and  his  family.  The  Governor's  speech 
is  given  at  length  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  held  at  Princeton,  on 
the  24th  of  January,  1753,  when  it  was  voted  by  the  Board, 

"  That  said  People  (when  Mr.  Randolph  has  given  a  Deed  for  a  certain  tract  of 
Land  four  hundred  feet  Front  and  thirty  Poles  depth,  in  lines  at  right  angles  with 
the  broad  street  where  it  is  proposed  that  the  College  shall  be  built)  have  complied 
with  the  terms  proposed  to  them  for  fixing  the  College  at  said  place." 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph  here  referred  to  did  give  the 
required  deed,  and  through  his  liberality  and  that  of  the  gentle- 
men who  contributed  the  thousand  pounds  proc.,  and  who  paid 
for  the  rest  of  the  land  given  to  the  College,  the  permanent  seat 
of  the  College  was  fixed  at  Princeton. 

Among  certain  memoranda  made  by  Mr.  Randolph  is  the 
following : 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR.     l^ 

"January  25,  1753.  Gave  a  deed  to  the  Trustees  for  (4)4)  four  and  one-half 
acres  of  Land  for  the  College." 

The  consideration  mentioned  in  the  deed  was  (,£150)  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  but  it  is  added  by  Mr.  Randolph, 

"  I  never  did  receive  one  penny  for  it :  it  was  only  to  confirm  the  title." 

He  also  gave  twenty  pounds  in  addition  to  the  land  and  his 
services  in  obtaining  subscriptions. 

From  a  comparison  of  dates,  it  appears  that  the  deed  was 
given  the  third  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  Board  in  Prince- 
ton to  conclude  their  agreement  with  the  inhabitants  of  that 
place,  viz.,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1753. 

THE    ERECTION    OF    COLLEGE    BUILDINGS. 

At  the  meeting  in  Princeton  just  mentioned,  Thomas  Leo- 
nard, Esq.,  Samuel  Woodruff,  Esq.,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Cowell,  William  Tennent,  Burr,  Treat,  Brainerd,  and  Smith, 
were  appointed  a  committee  "  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  Trustees  in 
building  the  College,  according  to  the  plan  agreed  upon  by  the 
Board."  This  committee  was  also  authorized  to  build  a  house 
for  the  President,  and  to  draw  upon  the  Treasurer  of  the  Col- 
lege for  the  requisite  funds.  The  plan  adopted  was,  "  in  gen- 
eral," one  drawn  by  Dr.  Shippen  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  of 
Philadelphia.  Mr.  Samuel  Hazard  and  Mr.  Robert  Smith  were 
a  committee  to  select  the  spot  and  to  mark  out  the  ground. 
Dr.  Shippen  and  Mr.  Hazard  were  Trustees.  Mr.  Smith  was 
the  Architect  for  the  building. 

It  was  first  ordered,  "  That  the  College  be  built  of  brick,  if 
good  brick  can  be  made  at  Princeton,  and  sand  be  got  reason- 
ably cheap,  and  that  it  be  three  stories  high,  and  without  any 
cellar."  At  a  subsequent  meeting  it  was  "  Voted,  That  the  Col- 
lege be  built  of  stone,  and  the  President's  house  of  wood." 
The  outer  walls  of  the  College  were  accordingly  built  of  stone 
obtained  from  a  quarry  near  the  village,  but  the  President's 
house  was  built  of  brick.  (See  Minutes  of  the  Board  for  July 
22,  1754,  and  for  September  25  of  the  same  year.) 

The   land   upon  which   these   buildings  were   erected  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

given  by  N.  F.  Randolph,  from  whose  memoranda*  we  gather 
the  following  particulars  respecting  the  College  building,  viz., 
that  the  ground  for  this  building  was  first  broken  on  the  2pth 
of  July,  1754,  under  the  direction  of  Joseph  Morrow,  and  that 
the  first  corner-stone  was  laid  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
cellar,  by  Thomas  Leonard,  John  Stockton,  John  Hornor,  Wil- 
liam Worth  (the  mason  who  did  the  stone  and  brick  work), 
N.  F.  Randolph,  and  many  others.  From  which  we  may  infer 
that  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Mr.  Leonard,  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Building  Committee,  in  the  presence  and  with  the 
assistance  of  some  of  the  other  persons  named.  Mr.  Randolph 
adds  that  in  November,  1755,  "the  roof  of  said  College  was 
raised  by  Robert  Smith,  the  carpenter  who  did  the  wood-work 
of  the  College." 

This  building  was  originally  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
feet  in  length,  fifty-four  in  width  at  the  two  ends,  with  projec- 
tions in  the  front  and  in  the  rear,  the  front  one  extending  three 
or  four  feet,  the  one  in  the  rear  about  twelve  feet.  The  middle 
of  the  roof  was  surmounted  by  a  cupola.  There  were  three 
stories,  with  a  basement,  and,  exclusive  of  the  Chapel,  there  were 
in  all  sixty  rooms,  sixteen  of  them  in  the  basement,  or  what  is 
now  the  cellar.  From  the  account  of  the  College  prepared  by 
Mr.  Samuel  Blair,  under  the  direction  of  President  Finley,  and 
published  in  1764,  it  appears  that  forty-nine  of  these  rooms 
were  assigned  to  the  lodging  of  students,  and  that  they  were 
deemed  sufficient  for  one  hundred  and  forty-seven,  reckoning 
three  to  a  chamber.  The  other  rooms  were  used  for  recita- 
tion, library,  refectory,  dining-room,  etc.  Since  the  burning  of 
Nassau  Hall,  in  1855,  none  of  the  sixteen  rooms  above  men- 
tioned have  been  fitted  up  for  the  accommodation  of  students, 
as  was  the  case  before  that  time. 

At  the  time  of  its  erection  this  College  building  was  the 
largest  edifice  of  its  kind  in  the  British  Provinces  of  North 

*  Copies  of  these  memoranda  and  of  other  papers  of  the  Randolph  family  were 
very  kindly  furnished  the  writer  by  Colonel  J.  Ross  Snowden,  of  Philadelphia, 
Miss  Frances  W.  Morford,  formerly  of  Princeton,  but  now  of  Lynchburg,  Vir 
ginia,  and  Mrs.  John  S.  Hart,  all  of  whom  are  descendants  of  the  Randolphs  of 
Princeton. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


147 


America,  and  in  view  of  the  very  important  services  rendered 
to  the  College  by  Governor  Belcher,  the  Trustees,  in  a  very 
flattering  letter  addressed  to  the  Governor,  requested  his  per- 
mission to  call  this  building  "Belcher  Hall." 

With  a  rare  modesty  he  declined  the  honor,  and  at  the  same 
time  expressed  an  earnest  desire  that  the  building  should  be 
called  "  Nassau  Hall,"  in  honor  of  King  William  the  third, 
"who  was  a  branch  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Nassau."  It 
was  therefore  ordered  by  a  vote  of  the  Trustees,  "  that  the  said 
edifice  be,  in  all  time  to  come,  called  and  known  by  the  name 
of  Nassau  Hall." 

From  the  name  given  to  this  first  College  edifice  the  College 
itself  is  extensively  known  under  this  appellation. 

THE    RAISING    OF   FUNDS. 

Of  necessity  this  important  matter  demanded  the  attention 
of  the  Trustees  from  the  very  beginning  of  their  efforts  to  erect 
a  College.  But  it  was  altogether  beyond  their  ability  to  make 
provision  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  institution,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  erect  such  buildings  as  were  deemed  essential  to 
the  complete  success  of  their  enterprise.  The  erection  of  a 
large  and  commodious  College  building  was  regarded  by  them 
as  scarcely  of  less  importance  than  the  charter  itself.  It  would 
seem  from  some  of  Governor  Belcher's  letters,  written  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  the  Colony,  that  he  too  regarded  the  erec- 
tion of  a  suitable  building  and  the  full  establishment  of  the  Col- 
lege as  almost  one  and  the  same  thing,  or  at  least  he  was  of 
the  opinion  that  without  such  a  building  the  attempt  to  estab- 
lish a  College  must  prove  a  failure.  In  a  letter  to  the  Rev. 
Gilbert  Tennent,  of  the  date  of  July  30,  1748,  the  Governor 
says,  ..."  and  if,  finally,  money  cannot  be  raised  for  the  House 
and  to  support  the  necessary  officers,  the  thing  must  be  given 
up."  In  a  letter,  written  as  early  as  September  18,  1747,  to  a 
committee  of  the  West  Jersey  Society,  the  Governor  says,  "  I 
find  the  people  of  this  Province  are  in  a  poor  situation  for  edu- 
cating their  children.  I  am  therefore  for  promoting  the  build- 
ing of  a  College  for  the  Instruction  of  Youth.  This  affair  was 
agitated  before  my  arrival,  and  much  contested  between  the 


I48        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

gentlemen  of  the  Eastern  and  those  of  the  Western  Division, 
where  it  should  be  placed,  and  I  have  got  them  to  agree  to  have  it 
built  at  Princetown,  in  the  Western  Division,  being  (I  apprehend) 
nearest  to  the  centre  of  the  Province."  And  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Mr.  Walley,  of  Boston,  of  the  date  of  October  2,  1747, 
he  writes :  "  The  People  ...  in  many  parts  of  the  Province 
show  a  great  desire  to  enjoy  the  Gospel  in  Its  purity.  There 
has  been  striving  at  what  place,  the  College  should  be  built,  and 
I  have  persuaded  those  concerned  to  fix  it  at  Princetown,  and  I 
think  it  as  near  the  centre  of  the  Province  as  any,  and  a  fine 
situation.  .  .  .  By  the  Scarborough  I  have  wrote  to  several  of 
my  rich  Friends  in  England  of  this  noble  design,  and  I  doubt 
not  of  obtaining  some  Donations  from  them,  and,  God  sparing 
my  life,  they  will  find  me  a  faithful  friend.  These  southern 
Provinces  greatly  want  such  a  nursery  of  Religion  and  Learn- 
ing." 

Neither  the  Governor  nor  the  Trustees  ever  lost  sight  of  the 
importance  of  erecting  a  College  building,  and  to  the  obtaining 
of  the  requisite  funds  for  this  purpose  they  gave  much  thought. 
Before  Governor  Belcher  entered  upon  his  administration  of 
the  Province  the  Trustees  had  gotten  subscriptions  to  the 
amount  of  eight  hundred  pounds  (see  letter  of  Governor 
Belcher  to  Rev.  G.  Tennent),  and  before  the  selection  of  the 
permanent  seat  of  the  institution  they  had  received  some  valu- 
able gifts,  which,  in  the  low  state  of  the  College  treasury,  were 
of  great  service  to  their  undertaking.  Still,  they  found  that 
they  needed  larger  funds  than  could  be  had  in  this  country; 
and  they  therefore  turned  their  thoughts  to  the  securing  of 
aid  from  abroad.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Pemberton,  of  New  York,  was 
the  person  first  chosen  to  visit  Great  Britain ;  but  he  having 
declined,  Mr.  Burr  was  requested  to  take  upon  himself  the 
burden  of  soliciting  funds  in  England  and  Scotland.  With  no 
little  hesitation  Mr.  Burr  consented  to  do  so,  provided  his  friend 
the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  then  pastor  of  the  church  in  Newark 
Mountains,  now  Orange,  would  agree  to  take  the  oversight  of 
the  College  during  his  absence.  Mr.  Smith,  although  disposed 
to  render  the  College  every  assistance  in  his  power,  shrank 
from  this  responsibility,  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not  think 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


149 


himself  equal  to  the  task.  It  is  no  slight  evidence  of  this  gen- 
tleman's great  worth,  as  well  as  of  his  modesty,  that  the  estimate 
of  his  talents  and  learning  by  those  best  acquainted  with  them 
was  far  higher  than  his  own. 

The  Trustees  next  requested  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent 
and  Samuel  Davies  to  visit  Great  Britain  and  to  solicit  aid  in 
behalf  of  the  College;  and  having  obtained  the  consent  of  these 
distinguished  ministers,  they  next  applied  to  the  Synod  of  New 
York  for  their  sanction,  which  was  unanimously  given  by  that 
body.  An  address  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was  prepared,  and,  after  a  revision  by  a  committee, 
was  unanimously  approved  by  the  Synod.  Certificates  of  their 
appointment  by  the  Synod  were  also  given  to  Messrs.  Tennent 
and  Davies,  and  provision  was  made  for  supplying  their  pulpits 
during  their  absence.  The  address  of  the  Synod  is  well  worthy 
of  a  place  in  any  and  every  history  of  the  College,  and  it  may 
perhaps  be  as  well  inserted  in  this  connection  as  in  any  other. 

A    COPY   OF   THE   ADDRESS    TO    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY   OF    THE 
CHURCH    OF  SCOTLAND. 

"  To  the  very  venerable  and  the  very  honourable  the  moderator  and  other 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  to  meet  at  Edin- 
burgh, May,  1754.  The  petition  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  convened  at  Phila- 
delphia, October  3,  1753,  humbly  showeth  : — 

"  That  a  college  has  lately  been  erected  in  the  province  of  New  Jersey,  by  his 
Majesty's  royal  charter,  in  which  a  number  of  youth  have  been  already  educated, 
who  are  now  the  instruments  of  service  to  the  church  of  God ;  and  which  would 
be  far  more  extensively  beneficial  were  it  brought  to  maturity.  That  after  all  the 
contributions  that  have  been  made  to  said  college,  or  can  be  raised  in  these  parts, 
the  fund  is  far  from  being  sufficient  for  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings,  supporting 
the  president  and  tutors,  furnishing  a  library,  and  defraying  other  necessary  ex- 
penses ;  that  the  trustees  of  said  college,  who  are  zealous  and  active  to  promote  it 
for  the  public  good,  have  already  sent  their  petition  to  this  venerable  house  for  some 
assistance  in  carrying  on  so  important  a  design ;  and  also  petitioned  the  Synod  to 
appoint  two  of  their  members,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel 
Davies,  to  undertake  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  behalf  of  said  college. 

"  Your  petitioners  therefore  most  heartily  concur  in  said  petition  of  the  trustees 
to  the  Reverend  Assembly,  and  appoint  the  said  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  to  be 
their  commissioners  for  that  purpose. 

"  And  as  your  petitioners  apprehend  the  design  of  said  petition  to  be  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  interests  of  learning  and  religion  in  this  infant  country,  and  are 
confident  of  the  zeal  of  so  pious  and  learned  a  body  as  the  General  Assembly  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  Church  of  Scotland  to  promote  such  a  design,  they  beg  leave  to  lay  before  this 
venerable  house  a  general  representation  of  the  deplorable  circumstances  of  the 
churches  under  their  Synodical  care,  leaving  it  to  the  commissioners  to  descend  to 
particulars. 

"  In  the  colonies  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  Carolina  a  great  number  of  congregations  have  been  formed  upon  the  Presby- 
terian plan,  which  have  put  themselves  under  the  Synodical  care  of  your  petitioners, 
who  conform  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  have  adopted  her 
standards  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline.  There  are  also  large  settlements 
lately  planted  in  various  parts,  particularly  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  where 
multitudes  are  extremely  desirous  of  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel ;  but  they  are 
not  yet  formed  into  congregations,  and  regularly  organized,  for  want  of  ministers. 
These  numerous  bodies  of  people,  dispersed  so  widely  through  so  many  colonies, 
have  repeatedly  made  the  most  importunate  applications  to  your  petitioners  for 
ministers  to  be  sent  among  them ;  and  your  petitioners  have  exerted  themselves  to 
the  utmost  for  their  relief,  both  by  sending  their  members  and  candidates  to  officiate 
some  time  among  them  and  using  all  practicable  measures  for  the  education  of 
pious  youth  for  the  ministry. 

"  But,  alas,  notwithstanding  these  painful  endeavours,  your  petitioners  have  been 
utterly  incapable  to  make  sufficient  provision  for  so  many  shepherdless  flocks ;  and 
those  that  come  hundreds  of  miles  crying  to  them  for  some  to  break  the  bread  of 
life  among  them,  are  often  obliged  to  return  in  tears,  with  little  or  no  relief,  by 
reason  of  the  scarcity  of  ministers. 

"  Though  every  practicable  expedient  which  the  most  urgent  necessity  could  sug- 
gest has  been  used  to  prepare  labourers  for  this  extensive  and  growing  harvest,  yet 
the  number  of  ministers  in  the  Synod  is  far  from  being  equal  to  that  of  the  congre- 
gations under  their  care.  Though  sundry  of  them  have  taken  the  pastoral  charge 
of  two  or  three  congregations  for  a  time,  in  order  to  lessen  the  number  of  vacan- 
cies ;  and  though  sundry  youth  have  lately  been  licensed,  ordained,  and  settled  in 
congregations  that  were  before  destitute,  yet  there  are  no  less  than  forty  vacant 
congregations  at  present  under  the  care  of  this  Synod,  besides  many  more  which 
are  incapable  at  present  to  support  ministers ;  and  the  whole  colony  of  North 
Carolina,  where  numerous  congregations  of  Presbyterians  are  forming,  and  where 
there  is  not  one  Presbyterian  minister  settled. 

"  The  great  number  of  vacancies  in  the  bounds  of  this  Synod  is  owing,  partly, 
to  new  settlements  lately  made  in  various  parts  of  this  continent,  partly  to  the  death 
of  sundry  ministers  belonging  to  this  Synod,  but  principally  to  the  small  number  of 
youth  educated  for  the  ministry,  so  vastly  disproportionate  to  the  numerous  vacancies ; 
and  unless  some  effectual  means  can  be  taken  for  the  education  of  proper  persons 
for  the  sacred  character,  the  churches  of  Christ  in  these  parts  must  continue  in  the 
most  destitute  circumstances,  wandering  shepherdless  and  forlorn  through  this  wil- 
derness, thousands  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  the  children  of  God  hungry 
and  unfed,  and  the  rising  age  growing  up  in  a  state  little  better  than  that  of  hea- 
thenism with  regard  to  the  public  ministrations  of  the  gospel. 

"  The  numerous  inconveniences  of  a  private,  and  the  many  important  advantages 
of  a  public  education  are  so  evident,  that  we  need  not  inform  this  venerable  Assembly 
of  them,  who  cannot  but  be  sensible,  from  happy  experience,  of  the  many  extensive 
benefits  of  convenient  colleges. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR,     j  5  j 

"  The  difficulty  (and  in  some  cases  the  impossibility)  of  sending  youth  two, 
three,  four,  or  five  hundred  miles  or  more,  to  the  colleges  of  New  England,  is  evi- 
dent at  first  sight.  Now  it  is  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey  only  that  we  can 
expect  a  remedy  of  these  inconveniences ;  it  is  to  that  your  petitioners  look  for  the 
increase  of  their  numbers ;  it  is  on  that  the  Presbyterian  churches  through  the  six 
colonies  above  mentioned  principally  depend  for  a  supply  of  accomplished  minis- 
ters ;  from  that  has  been  obtained  considerable  relief  already,  notwithstanding  the 
many  disadvantages  that  unavoidably  attend  it  in  its  present  infant  state ;  and  from 
that  may  be  expected  a  sufficient  supply  when  brought  to  maturity. 

"  Your  petitioners,  therefore,  most  earnestly  pray  that  this  very  reverend  Assem- 
bly would  afford  the  said  college  all  the  countenance  and  assistance  in  their  power. 
The  young  daughter  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  helpless  and  exposed  in  this  for- 
eign land,  cries  to  her  tender  and  powerful  mother  for  relief.  The  cries  of  minis- 
ters oppressed  with  labours,  and  of  congregations  famishing  for  want  of  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  implore  assistance.  And  were  the  poor  Indian  savages  sensible 
of  their  own  case  they  would  join  in  the  cry,  and  beg  for  more  missionaries  to  be 
sent  to  propagate  the  religion  of  Jesus  among  them. 

"  Now,  as  the  College  of  New  Jersey  appears  the  most  promising  expedient  to 
redress  these  grievances,  and  to  promote  religion  and  learning  in  these  provinces, 
your  petitioners  most  heartily  concur  with  the  trustees,  and  humbly  pray  that  an  act 
may  be  passed  by  their  venerable  and  honourable  Assembly  for  a  national  collection 
in  favour  of  _said  college.  And  your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever 
pray,"  etc. 

A    COPY    OF    THE    CERTIFICATE    FOR     MESSRS.    GILBERT    TENNENT 
AND    SAMUEL    DAVIES. 

"  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel  Davies,  the  bearers  hereof, 
undertaking  a  voyage  to  Europe  by  the  appointment  of  the  Synod,  in  concurrence 
with  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  for  services  of  said  college ;  the 
Synod  do  hereby  certify,  that  the  above  reverend  gentlemen  are  worthy  and  well- 
approved  members  of  their  body,  and  do  recommend  them  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
church  of  God  and  the  work  of  their  mission,  wheresoever  Divine  Providence  may 
call  them,  imploring  the  Divine  Presence  with  them  and  success  to  their  important 
undertaking. 

"  Signed  by  order  of  the  Synod." 

The  appointment  of  these  two  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Tennent 
and  Davies,  was  a  most  happy  one  for  the  College.  Going  with 
an  earnest  recommendation  from  the  Synod,  and  with  letters 
from  Governor  Belcher,  they  were  cordially  received  by  the 
Presbyterians  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  the  Baptists  and 
Independents  of  England,  and  kindly  treated  by  some  of  the 
prominent  statesmen  of  that  day.  Their  mission  was  success- 
ful beyond  all  expectation,  and  they  obtained  an  amount  of  funds 
which  enabled  the  Trustees  to  proceed  without  further  delay 


!j2        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

in  the  erection  of  their  proposed  College  Hall,  and  also  of  a 
house  for  the  President  and  family.  What  was  the  precise  sum 
collected  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  cannot  now  be  stated,  as 
the  books  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  College  have  been  lost ;  but 
the  minutes  of  the  Board  for  the  24th  of  September,  1755,  set 
forth  the  fact  that  the  funds  were  amply  sufficient  to  defray  the 
expenses  incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  buildings  above  men- 
tioned; and  that  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling,  or 
more,  were  also  obtained  from  divers  friends  in  Great  Britain 
for  the  education  of  pious  and  indigent  youth  for  the  gospel 
ministry.* 

Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  received  in  the  city  of  London 
alone  about  twelve  hundred  pounds  sterling.  On  their  return 
from  Edinburgh  to  London,  Mr.  Tennent  went  to  Ireland,  and 
to  some  of  the  towns  in  the  west  of  England,  and  obtained  on 
this  tour  five  hundred  pounds  sterling.  And  Mr.  Davies  col- 
lected in  the  several  towns  visited  by  him  about  four  hundred 
pounds.  And  these  sums  are  exclusive,  in  a  great  measure  at 
least,  of  the  collections  made  in  the  churches  in  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  and  by  the  Synod  of  Ulster. 

The  youth  to  be  aided  from  this  fund  were  to  be  selected  by 
the  Synod,  and  to  receive  their  education  at  the  College  of  New 
Jersey.  This  doubtless  may  be  regarded  as  the  foundation  of 
the  charitable  funds  of  the  College,  which  have  been  of  no 
little  service  to  the  institution,  as  well  as  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  by  assisting  in  the  support  of  a  valuable  class  of 
students,  whose  desire  and  aim  were  to  become  ministers  of 
the  gospel.  Of  the  several  contributions  to  this  fund  mention 
wilt  be  made  hereafter,  f 

For  the  liberality  and  kindness,  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  the  Trustees,  by  a  formal  vote,  ex- 
pressed their  grateful  acknowledgments. 

In  Guild's  "  History  of  Brown  University"  there  is  a  copy 
of  a  letter  written  from  London,  April  26,  1768,  by  the  Rev. 

*  For  a  list  of  the  contributors  to  this  particular  fund,  see  printed  "  Minutes  of 
the  Synod  of  New  York,"  pages  264,  265. 
f  In  Minutes,  page  43. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


153 


Morgan  Edwards  to  President  Manning,  in  which  letter  the  fol- 
lowing passage  occurs  respecting  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies, 
and  two  other  well-known  gentlemen,  who  had  visited  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  to  solicit  funds  in  aid  of  the  important  and 
benevolent  objects  of  their  several  missions  : 

"  You  must  observe  also  that  in  England,  as  in  Ireland,  I  solicit  money  towards 
endowing  the  College,  and  therefore  take  care  that  you  attend  to  the  design  of  the 
donors. 

"  Indeed,  you  have  a  list  of  all  the  sums  I  received  in  Ireland,  which  list-was 
distributed  in  the  several  places  where  I  have  been.  The  design  was  to  let  every 
one  of  them  see  that  I  gave  true  credit  for  what  I  have  received.  Had  Tenn — nt, 
D — vis,  and  Be — ty  and  Whit — r,  done  so,  they  would  have  prevented  suspicions 
very  injurious  to  themselves,  and  to  those  that  come  after  them  on  the  like  errand. 
Air.  Raffey  told  me  that  he  had  been  called  a  rogue  for  aiding  the  said  persons  to 
raise  money  in  London." 

Mr.  Guild,  not  content  to  let  the  letter  speak  for  itself,  must 
needs  add  the  following  note,  lest  the  reader  of  his  book 
might  not  otherwise  know  who  were  the  gentlemen  referred  to 
by  Mr.  Edwards : 

"In  1753,  by  request  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  the  Presby- 
terian Synod  of  New  York  appointed  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  in  conjunction, 
with  the  Rev.  (afterwards  President)  Samuel  Davis,  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  solicit 
funds  for  that  Institution.  The  mission  was  eminently  successful ;  but  the  only 
account  of  it  that  remains  is  found  in  the  diary  of  Mr.  Davis.  About  the  same 
time,  or  a  little  later,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  accompanied  by  Samson 
Occum,  an  Indian  preacher,  solicited  funds  for  Moor's  Indian  Charity  School, 
afterwards  Dartmouth  College.  Who  the  other  person  was  to  whom  Edwards 
refers  we  are  not  informed." 

This  information  it  is  in  the  writer's  power  to  supply.  He  was  the  Rev. 
Charles  Beatty,  a  man  without  reproach  and  of  eminent  piety,  who  was  sent 
by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  to  solicit  contributions  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  fund  to  assist  aged  and  disabled  ministers  and  the  families  of 
deceased  ministers.  All  the  gentlemert  named  discharged  their  respective  trusts,, 
in  collecting  funds  and  in  making  report  thereof,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  those 
whose  agents  they  were.  And  although  there  be  not  now  any  account  of  the 
moneys  collected  by  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  but  what  is  given  in  the  diary 
of  Mr.  Davies,  yet  it  would  be  perfectly  absurd  to  imagine  that  they  did  not  give  a 
detailed  report  of  all  the  moneys  received  by  them  for  the  College ;  and  for  the. 
collecting  of  which  the  Trustees  of  the  College  gave  them  their  thanks,  and  to 
each  a  present  of  ,£50,  in  addition  to  the  expenses  of  their  agency  and  of  supply- 
ing the  pulpits  during  their  absence.  The  Treasurer's  books  and  papers  of  that 
VOL.  i. — ii 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

day  have  long  been  lost,  but  whether  during  the  ravages  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
or  by  the  fire  of  1802,  which  consumed  the  College  edifice,  known  as  Nassau  Hail, 
together  with  the  Library,  Philosophical  Apparatus,  and  other  valuables,  is  unknown. 
The  election  of  Mr.  Davies,  a  few  years  later,  as  President  of  the  College,  in  the 
absence  of  all  other  evidence,  would  be  conclusive  as  to  the  fact  that  his  agency 
had  given  the  Trustees  entire  satisfaction ;  and  it  shows  that  the  currency  given  to 
what  was  doubtless  the  grossly  exaggerated  statement  of  Mr.  Raffey,  as  reported 
by  Mr.  Edwards,  was  a  discourteous  treatment  of  gentlemen  in  every  respect  his 
equals,  not  to  say  his  superiors. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Manning,  the  first  President  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, to  whom  Mr.  Edwards's  letter  was  addressed,  was  a 
graduate  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1762.  He  was  an 
eminently  active  and  useful  man,  and  was  held  in  high  repute 
as  a  teacher,  a  minister,  and  a  patriot.  In  1786  he  represented 
Rhode  Island  in  the  Continental  Congress. 

THE   REMOVAL   TO    PRINCETON. 

The  College  edifice  and  the  house  for  the  President  were 
both  so  far  completed  by  the  autumn  of  1756  that  the  Trus- 
tees, at  their  meeting  in  September  of  that  year,  the  time  of 
the  annual  Commencement,  passed  an  order  for  the  removal 
of  the  students  from  Newark  to  Princeton,  and  it  took  place 
accordingly.  The  words  of  this  order  were :  "  Voted,  That  the 
President  move  the  College  to  Princeton  this  Fall,  and  that  the 
•expense  thereof  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer." 

In  Dr.  Finley's  account  of  the  College  it  is  said  to  have 
taken  place  in  1757.  Dr.  Green  suggests  that  President  Finley 
"  probably  spoke  of  what  might  be  called  a  collegiate  year, 
reckoning  from  one  Commencement  to  another." 

That  the  removal  actually  occurred  in  the  autumn  of  1756 
we  have  the  testimony  of  Mr.  N.  F.  Randolph,  who,  in  his 
"Memoranda,"  says  that,  "in  1756,  Aaron  Burr,  President, 
preached  the  first  sermon,  and  began  the  first  school  in  Prince- 
ton College."  And  it  also  appears  from  a  minute  in  the  Rec- 
ords of  the  Synod  of  New  York  for  1757,  that  a  committee  of 
the  Synod  met  at  Princeton  on  the  23d  of  November,  1756,  to 
examine  such  students  as  were  candidates  to  receive  assistance 
from  the  fund  designed  for  the  support  of  pious  youths. 

At  this  time,  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  seventy  pupils 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR.     £-5 

in  the  College.  Everything  appeared  bright  and  promising 
Governor  Belcher  and  Mr.  Burr  had  seen  their  fondest  hopes  in 
regard  to  the  College  realized.  Their  efforts  to  obtain  funds  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  had  surpassed  their  expectations.  A 
college  edifice  sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  more  than 
one  hundred  students  had  been  erected.  A  house  for  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  had  also  been  built.  The  College  was  in 
good  repute  at  home  and  abroad,  with  a  prospect  of  increase 
in  the  number  of  the  pupils  and  in  the  resources  of  the  in- 
stitution. At  the  meetings  of  the  Synods  of  New  York  and 
of  Philadelphia  in  May,  1757,  effectual  measures  were  taken 
for  the  union  of  these  two  Synods,  thus  bringing  together 
into  one  harmonious  body  all  the  Presbyterian  ministers  and 
churches  in  the  several  Provinces,  and  giving  hope  to  the 
friends  of  the  College  of  increased  patronage  from  a  united 
Church.* 

But  scarcely  were  these  things  realized,  or  rather  looked 
forward  to  with  confident  expectation,  when  the  two  principal 
supports  of  the  College  were  removed  from  their  earthly  labors; 
and  neither  of  them  lived  to  se'e  a  class  graduated  at  Princeton, 
— Governor  Belcher  having  died  on  Wednesday,  the  3ist  of 
August,  and  President  Burr  on  Saturday,  the  24th  of  September, 
1757,  four  days  before  the  annual  Commencement,  which  took 
place  on  Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September. 

From  the  day  on  which  Mr.  Burr  was  inaugurated  President 
of  the  College,  under  the  second  charter,  to  the  Commence- 
ment, which  occurred  on  the  fourth  day  after  his  decease, — that 
is,  from  the  gih  of  November,  1748,  to  the  28th  of  September, 
1757, — there  were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  young  gentlemen  who  had  pursued  their 
studies  under  his  guidance,  and  of  these,  sixty-tivo  entered  the 
ministry.  Thus  far,  it  appears,  the  College  had  answered  the 
design  of  its  founders. 

The  first  general  revival  of  religion  in  the  College  took  place 
in  the  last  year  of  President  Burr's  administration  and  of  his 
life,  the  Lord  permitting  him  to  see  that  the  blessing  of  the 

*  The  union  was  consummated  in  May,  1758. 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Almighty  had  attended  his  labors  for  the  promotion  of  piety 
and  learning  in  happy  union. 

The  names  of  the  several  Tutors  during  Mr.  Burr's  adminis- 
tration are  as  follows,  viz. : 

i.  John  Maltby,  from  1749  to  1752.  Mr.  Maltby  was  a 
graduate  of  Yale,  and  was  a  descendant  of  the  Rev.  Abraham 
Pierson,  the  first  President  of  that  College.  For  several  years 
he  was  "  the  much-loved  pastor"  of  a  church  in  the  island  of 
Bermuda.  He  died  in  1771. 

2.  Samuel  Sherwood,  from  1750  to  1752. 

3.  Jonathan  Badger,  from  1752  to  1755. 

4.  Alexander  Gordon,  from  1752  to  1754. 

5.  George  Duffield,  from  1754  to  1756. 

6.  William  Thompson,  from  1755  to  1756. 

7.  Benjamin  Y.  Prime,  from  1756  to  1757. 

8.  John  Ewing,  from  1756  to  1758. 

9.  Isaac  Smith,  from  1757  to  1758. 

10.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  from  1757  to  1767. 

11.  Joseph  Treat,  from  1758  to  1760. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  Trustees  during  Mr. 
Burr's  presidency: 

1.  James  Neilson,  Esq.,  in  1749;  resigned  in  1754. 

2.  Samuel  Woodruff,  Esq.,  in  1749;  died  in  1768. 

3.  Rev.  John  Frelinghuysen,  in  1750;  died  in  1755. 

4.  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  in  1750;  died  in  1763.    He  was  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Newark  Mountains,  now  Orange,  New  Jersey. 

5.  Rev.  Thomas  Thompson,  in  1751 ;  died  in  1752. 

6.  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  in  1751 ;  resigned  in  1761.     In  this 
year  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  College. 

7.  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer,  in  1752;  died  in  1784. 

8.  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  in  1754;  died  in  1780. 

9.  Rev.  Alexander  Cumming,  in  1756;  resigned  in  1761. 

10.  Rev.  Charles  McKnight,  in  1757;  died  in  1778. 

11.  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  in  1757;  died  in  1781. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  fourteen  graduates  who,  from  1747 
to  1757,  pursued  their  studies  under  the  direction  of  President 
Burr,  more  than  half  became  preachers  of  the  gospel,  and  about 
forty  were  men  of  more  or  less  note  in  their  respective  callings, 


•ADMINISTRATION'  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


'57 


and  of  these  not  a  few  were  quite  eminent.  To  begin  with 
instructers  in  this  and  in  other  institutions:  of  the  class  of 

1752.  The  Rev.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  A.M.,  for  ten  years  a  Tutor, 
a  Professor  elect  of  Mathematics,  and  then  a  Trustee. 

1754.  The  Rev.  John  Ewing,  S.T.D.,  for  two  years  a  Tutor 
in  this  College,  Professor  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  also  Provost  of  the  same. 

1754.  William  Shippen,  M.D.  The  first  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

1757.  James  Smith,  M.D.  The  first  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  in  King's  (Columbia)  College,  New  York. 

MEMBERS    OF   THE    CONTINENTAL   CONGRESS. 

1748.  Hon.  Richard  Stockton,  New  Jersey;  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence ;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1749.  Hon.  William  Burnet,  New  Jersey;  also  Surgeon-Gen- 
eral of  the  United  States  Army. 

1751.  Hon.  Nathaniel  Scudder,  New  Jersey;    a  Trustee  of 
the  College. 

1752.  Hon.   Samuel    Livermore,  of  New   Hampshire;    also 
United  States  Senator,  etc.,  etc. 

1754.  Hon.  William    Shippen,    M.D.,    of    Pennsylvania;    a 
Trustee  of  the  College. 

1755.  Hon.  Joseph  Montgomery,  of  Pennsylvania;  from  1784 
to  1788. 

1756.  Hon.  Jesse  Root,  LL.D.,  of  Connecticut;  also  Chief 
Justice  of  Connecticut. 

1757.  Hon.  Joseph  Reed,  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania; 
also,  in  1784,  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Convention; 
a  Trustee  of  the  College,  etc. 

OF   THE    UNITED   STATES   SENATE. 

1756.  Hon.  Alexander  Martin,  LL.D.,  of  North  Carolina. 

OF    THE    HOUSE   OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 

1755.  Hon.  Isaac  Smith,  of  New  Jersey;  also  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey. 


jcS        HISTORY   OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 
SECRETARY    OF   THE    PROVINCE   OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

1753.  Joseph  Shippen,  Esq. 

HIGH    SHERIFF    OF    LONDON. 

1757.  Stephen  Sayre,  Esq. 

As  those  gentlemen  whose  names  are  about  to  be  given  are 
not  included  in  any  of  the  above  lists,  they  will  be  mentioned 
in  the  order  of  their  admission  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts: 

1748.  Rev.  Hugh  Henry,  Rehoboth,  Maryland. 

1748.  Rev.  Israel  Reed,  A.M.,  of  Bound  Brook,  New  Jersey; 
a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1749.  Rev.    John     Brown,    New    Providence,    Rockbridge 
County,  Virginia. 

1749.  Rev.  John  Todd,  A.M. ;  successor  to  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Davies  as  minister  of  the  Providence  church,  Virginia. 

1750.  Rev.  Daniel  Farrand,  A.M.;  minister  of  a  Congrega- 
tional church  in  South  Canaan,  Connecticut. 

1750.  Rev.  Samuel  McClintock,  D.D. ;  minister  of  a  Con- 
gregational church  in  Greenland,  New  Hampshire. 

1750.  Benjamin  Youngs  Prime,  M.D. ;  Tutor;  an  elegant 
classical  scholar;  a  practitioner  of  medicine  and  surgery  in 
the  city  of  New  York. 

1750.  Rev.  Robert  Henry,  A.M.;  pastor  of  Cub  Creek 
church,  Charlotte  County,  Virginia. 

1752.  Rev.  George  Duffield,  D.D. ;  Tutor  and  Trustee; 
pastor  of  the  Third  Church,  Philadelphia. 

1752.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Whitaker,  D.D.,  of  Connecticut;    re- 
ceived his  degree  from  St.  Andrew's,  Scotland. 

1753.  Rev.  John  Harris,  of  Delaware  and  South  Carolina. 
1753.  Dr.  Robert  Harris,  of  Philadelphia;  for  fifty-four  years 

a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1753.  Rev.  Hugh  McAden,  A.M.,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania; 
pastor  of  the  churches  in  Duplin  and  New  Hanover,  North 
Carolina. 

1754.  Rev.  Hugh  Knox,  D.D. ;  minister  at  St.  Croix,  West 
Indies. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


'59 


1754.  David  Matthews,  A.M.;  Mayor  of  New  York  in  1775; 
a  Loyalist. 

1754.  Rev.  William  Ramsay,  A.M. ;  pastor  of  Fairfield  church, 
Connecticut. 

1755.  Thaddeus    Burr,  A.M.;    a  lawyer  in   Fairfield,  Con- 
necticut. 

1755.  Rev.  Wheeler  Case,  A.M. ;  pastor  of  Pleasant  Valley 
church,  Dutchess  County,  New  York ;  author  of  a  volume  of 
poems. 

1756.  Rev.  Azel  Roe,  D.D.,  of  Woodbridge,  New  Jersey;  a 
Trustee  of  the  College. 

1757.  Rev.  William    Kirkpatrick,   A.M.,  of   Amwell,   New 
Jersey ;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1757.  Rev.  Alexander  McWhorter,  D.D.,  of  Newark,  New 
Jersey ;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1757.  Henry  Wells,  A.M.,  M.D.,  of  Brattleborough,  Vermont. 

MEMOIR   OF    PRESIDENT    BURR. 

The  Rev.  Aaron  Burr  was  born  in  Fairfield  County,  Connec- 
ticut, on  the  4th  of  January,  1716.  He  was  the  youngest  son 
of  Daniel  Burr,  whose  father  and  paternal  grandfather  were 
both  named  John.  The  elder  John  came  to  Fairfield  from 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  (See  Dr.  Stearns's  "  Historical  Dis- 
courses," page  151.) 

In  their  respective  sketches  of  the  life  of  President  Burr,  Drs. 
Allen,  Green,  and  Sprague  agree  in  representing  him  as  de- 
scended from  the  learned  and  pious  Jonathan  Burr,  a  non-con- 
formist preacher  who  came  from  England  in  1639,  and  settled 
in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  where  he  died  in  1641.  John 
Burr,  the  second  son  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Burr,  of  Dor- 
chester, settled  in  Fairfield  County  probably  about  the  time 
that  the  first  John  came  from  Springfield  to  Fairfield,  and  this 
fact,  mentioned  by  Dr.  Allen  in  his  "  Biographical  Dictionary," 
may  have  given  rise  to  the  conjecture  that  President  Burr  was 
descended  from  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Burr.  Dr.  Allen  expressly 
says  that  Daniel  Burr,  the  father  of  President  Burr,  was  de- 
scended from  John  Burr.  But  this  cannot  be  unless  Daniel's 


j6o        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

mother  was  a  daughter  of  John  Burr,  of  which  we  have  no  evi- 
dence or  even  any  intimation. 

The  true  account,  therefore,  of  this  matter  is  the  one  given 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stearns,  and  for  it  he  acknowledges  himself  in- 
debted to  the  Rev.  Dr.  L.  H.  Atwater,  then  of  Fairfield,  but  now 
of  Princeton,  who  at  Dr.  Stearns's  request  ascertained  the  facts 
of  the  case.  And  here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  that  the  fullest 
and  the  best  sketch  of  the  life  of  President  Burr  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  is  the  one  given  by  Dr.  Stearns,  in  his 
"  Historical  Discourses"  relative  to  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Newark. 

President  Burr  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  the  autumn 
of  1735,  being  at  that  time  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age.  At 
the  completion  of  the  usual  College  course  he  was  a  success- 
ful competitor  for  one  of  the  classical  scholarships  founded  at 
Yale  by  Berkeley,  the  eminent  and  learned  Bishop  of  Cloyne ; 
and  having  obtained  this  prize,  he  continued  his  studies  at  New 
Haven  for  another  year.  It  was  during  this  year  that  he  be- 
came deeply  and  permanently  interested  in  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion, and,  hoping  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  engage  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  it  with 
all  his  heart.  And  this  he  did.  Upon  being  licensed  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  sacred  office,  he  left  New  England  and  came  to 
New  Jersey.  Here  he  labored  for  a  short  time  at  Hanover,  in 
Morris  County,  and  while  there  he  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  church  in  Newark,  which  was  then  without  a  pastor.  At 
first  he  was  invited  to  preach  at  Newark  for  one  year,  begin- 
ning the  loth  of  January,  1737.  At  the  expiration  of  this 
time  he  was  invited  to  assume  the  pastoral  office,  and,  accept- 
ing the  invitation,  he  was  ordained  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1738,  by  the  Presbytery  of  East  Jersey,  with  which  Presbytery 
the  church  of  Newark  was  then  connected. 

"  The  settlement  of  Mr.  Burr,"  says  Dr.  Stearns,  "  was  a  most 
auspicious  event."  This  remark  has  special  reference  to  the 
church  which  had  just  given  him  a  unanimous  call  to  become 
their  pastor ;  but  it  is  equally  true  with  respect  to  the  interests 
of  religion  and  learning  within  the  limits  of  the  entire  Presby- 
terian Church  in  this  country,  of  which  he  was  an  eminent 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR.     jgj 

minister,  surpassed  by  none  in  devotion  to  his  work,  or,  as  far 
as  we  can  judge,  in  the  greatness  and  successful  prosecution  of 
his  various  and  arduous  labors. 

Within  eighteen  months  after  Mr.  Burr's  settlement  at  New- 
ark, the  divine  blessing  manifestly  rested  upon  his  ministrations 
there :  the  people  of  his  charge  were  favored  with  a  most  re- 
markable outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  among  all  classes,  young 
and  old,  there  was  such  an  awakening  to  their  spiritual  inter- 
ests as  produced  a  wonderful  change  in  the  whole  community. 
This  unusual  attention  to  religion  continued  for  nearly  two 
years,  and  during  this  period  they  had  one  or  more  visits  from 
the  pious  and  eloquent  Whitefield,  for  whom  Mr.  Burr  seems 
to  have  entertained  the  highest  respect,  which  was  fully  recip- 
rocated by  this  famous  itinerant  for  the  gospel's  sake. 

Soon  after  his  settlement  at  Newark,  Mr.  Burr  became  deeply 
interested  in  the  matter  of  Christian  missions  among  the  Indian 
tribes  of  this  country,  and  united  with  his  friends,  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Dickinson  and  Pemberton,  in  directing  the  attention  of 
the  Society  in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge 
to  this  field  of  labor.  The  result  of  their  correspondence  was 
that  they  were  chosen  correspondents  of  the  Society,  and  were 
authorized  to  employ  two  missionaries  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society.  This  led  to  the  appointment  of  David  Brainerd  and 
of  Azariah  Horton  as  missionaries  to  the  American  Indians. 

Mr.  Burr  took  an  active  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Church 
courts  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  even  in  regard  to  matters 
in  which  the  feelings  of  the  members  were  strongly  enlisted,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  act  in  accordance  with  his  convictions ;  yet 
always  exhibiting  good  sense  and  a  Christian  temper,  he  never 
failed  in  securing  the  respect  and  esteem  of  those  from  whom 
he  differed  in  opinion. 

His  zeal  in  behalf  of  learning  was  conspicuous  from  the  be- 
ginning of  his  ministry.  Before  a  charter  was  obtained  for  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  Mr.  Burr  established  a  classical  school 
in  Newark,  doubtless  for  the  special,  though  not  for  the  exclu- 
sive, benefit  of  the  youth  of  his  pastoral  charge.  In  the  efforts 
to  obtain  a  charter  for  a  college  he  took  a  prominent  part ; 
and  when,  upon  the  decease  of  President  Dickinson,  he  became 


j62        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  head  of  the  institution,  his  untiring   labors  in  its  behalf 
ceased  only  with  his  life. 

Of  the  success  which  attended  these  labors  mention  was 
made  in  speaking  of  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
College ;  but  of  his  liberality  to  it,  when  it  was  without  funds 
sufficient  to  meet  its  necessary  expenses,  we  have  not  spoken. 
It  has  been  said  that  for  the  first  three  years  he  received  no 
salary  from  the  College.*  And  it  is  true  that  in  the  minutes 
of  the  Trustees  no  mention  is  made  of  any  order  or  vote  for 
the  payment  to  him  of  any  moneys  until  the  meeting  of  the 
Board;  at  Newark,  on  the  26th  of  September,  1750.  In  the 
record  of  this  meeting  there  is  the  following  minute:  "Ordered, 
That  the  Clerk  be  allowed  ,£5  per  annum  for  his  trouble,  and 
that  £s  be  reserved  for  Defraying  the  Incidental  charges  of  the 
Corporation ;  and  that  the  Residue  of  the  Interest  in  the  Treas- 
urer's hands  be  paid  the  President  for  his  services  till  further 
orders."  This  was  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  Mr.  Burr's 
presidency  under  the  second  charter.  The  three  years  men- 
tioned in  the  Obituary  probably  included  the  year  that  he  had 
the  charge  of  the  College  under  the  first  charter. 

The  moneys  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  were  those  re- 
ceived from  the  lottery  drawn  in  Philadelphia,  and  from  dona- 
tions, the  first  of  which  was  a  gift  of  fifty  pounds  proc.  from  the 
Hon.  James  Alexander,  Esq.,  father  of  Major-General  Lord 
Stirling.  About  this  time,  also,  Colonel  John  Alford,  of  Boston, 
gave  one  hundred  pounds  to  the  College.  The  above-men- 
tioned order  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Clerk's  compensation 
and  the  incidental  expenses  were  paid  from  the  interest  of 
moneys  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer,  and  doubtless  the  Treas- 
urer's salary  of  ten  pounds  a  year,  mentioned  in  a  previous 
order,  was  paid  from  the  same  fund.  This  arrangement  would 
leave  the  tuition-fees  to  be  distributed  to  the  President  and 
Tutors;  each  of  the  Tutors  probably  receiving  a  fixed  stipend ? 
and  the  President  the  remainder. 

The  first  mention  of  a  fixed  compensation  to  the  President 

*  See  Dr.  Stearns's  "  Historical  Discourses,"  page  185,  and  obituary  notice,  from 
the  "  New  York  Mercury,"  on  page  206. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND   LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR.-    jg^ 

is  in  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  for  May  2,  1754,  and  in  these 
words  :  "Voted,  That  the  President's  salary  be  .£150  proc.  for 
the  year  following  the  next  Commencement."* 

How  much  he  received  of  the  interest  from  the  vested  funds 
of  the  College,  as  ordered  by  the  Board  at  their  meeting  in 
September,  1750,  from  this  date  to  September,  1754,  when  his 
salary,  independent  of  the  graduation-fees,  was  fixed  at  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  a  year,  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining. 
But  it  is  morally  certain  that  his  entire  income  from  the  sources 
named  was  a  very  meagre  one  compared  with  the  services  ren- 
dered ;  and  this  fact  shows  the  sacrifices  made  by  him  for  the 
cause  of  religion  and  learning  while  laboring  so  earnestly  for 
the  upbuilding  of  the  College ;  and  it  also  shows  the  generous 
spirit  of  the  man,  who  lost  sight  of  his  own  interests  in  efforts 
to  serve  his  fellow-men.  Well,  therefore,  might  the  Trustees, 
upon  his  decease  and  immediately  before  electing  one  to  suc- 
ceed him  in  the  office  of  President,  adopt  the  following  resolu- 
tion on  the  subject  of  the  President's  salary,  which  for  the  last 
year  of  Mr.  Burr's  life  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds: 


*  At  the  same  meeting  it  was  also  "Voted,  That  each  of  the  two  Tutors  have 
,£40  proc.  yearly  ;  and  provided  they  tarry  four  years  that  they  have  ^40  gratuity, 
if  recommended  by  the  President  as  having  faithfully  discharged  their  Trusts. 
The  said  salaries  are  to  take  place  after  the  next  Commencement."  By  a  vote  of 
the  Board,  at  a  meeting  held  September  27,  1752,  two  years  before,  each  Tutor 
was  allowed  for  his  services  twenty  pounds  sterling  a  year,  reckoned  to  be  at  that 
time  equal  to  thirty  pounds  proc. 

The  tuition-fees  were  fifteen  shillings  proc.  a  quarter,  or  three  pounds  a  year.  On 
the  supposition  that  there  were  thirty  students  in  the  four  classes  during  each  of  the 
first  three  years,  and,  judging  from  the  number  of  graduates  in  those  years,  the 
average  could  hardly  have  been  less,  the  entire  income  from  the  tuition-fees  would 
have  been  two  hundred  and  seventy  pounds  proc.  For  the  first  year  there  was  but 
one  Tutor,  and  the  entire  sum  paid  to  the  Tutors  for  these  years  did  not  exceed 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  proc.,  which  would  leave  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  for  the  President  for  the  three  years,  or  an  average  of  forty  pounds  proc.  a 
year. 

By  an  ordinance  of  the  Board,  passed  on  the  day  of  the  first  College  Com- 
mencement, each  student  "  admitted  to  the  honor  of  a  Degree  was  required  to  pay 
to  the  President  thirty  shillings  proc."  From  this  source  he  should  have  received, 
and  probably  did,  about  ten  pounds  more  a  year,  making  the  yearly  income  from 
these  two  sources  about  fifty  pounds  proclamation  money,  which  is  only  one-third 
of  the  salary  voted  to  him  by  the  Board  for  one  year  from  September,  1754. 


164        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  The  Trustees  having  considered  that  the  salary  which  the  last  year  was  voted 
to  the  Rev.  President  Burr  was  considerably  increased  on  account  of  his  constant 
Attention,  great  Zeal,  and  indefatigable  Labors  for  the  College;  and  more  espe- 
cially for  that  the  said  President  Burr,  for  some  years  in  the  fore  Part  of  the  Exe- 
cuting his  said  Office,  had  done  many  and  great  services  for  said  College,  for 
which  he  has  never  received  any  pecuniary  consideration;  and  that  any  President, 
who  now  or  hereafter  may  be  chosen,  cannot,  for  the  service  of  this  office  for  some 
Time,  deserve  so  well  of  this  Board :  It  is  therefore  Ordered,  that  the  salary  of  the 
President  for  the  time  being  shall  be  the  sum  of  two  hundred  Pounds  proclamation 
money  of  this  Province,  during  the  ensuing  year,  together  with  the  use  of  the  Presi- 
dent's house,*  and  the  improved  Lands,  with  Liberty  of  getting  his  Firewood  on 
the  Lands  belonging  to  the  Corporation." 

That  Mr.  Burr  devoted  himself  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  Col- 
lege without  regard  to  the  emolument  to  be  derived  therefrom 
is  abundantly  evident  from  the  record  just  cited,  and  this  fact 
shows  that  he  was  as  generous  as  he  was  wise  and  laborious. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  such  a  man  should  command  the  unlimited 
respect  and  confidence  of  all  persons  associated  with  him  in  his 
efforts  to  promote  the  cause  of  religion  and  learning. 

For  several  years  Mr.  Burr  discharged  the  duties  both  of 
pastor  of  the  Newark  church  and  of  President  of  the  College, 
but,  in  consequence  of  the  increased  number  of  students,  and  in 
view  of  the  intended  removal  of  the  College,  it  was  deemed  best 
that  Mr.  Burr  should  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  students  and  to  the  general  interests  of  the  College; 
and  therefore  at  their  meeting,  September  25,  1754,  the  Trustees 
appointed  a  committee  to  wait  upon  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  and  to  ask  from  that  body  a  dissolution  of  Mr.  Burr's 
pastoral  relation  to  the  church  of  Newark.  This  application 
was  accordingly  made  to  the  said  Presbytery,  and  the  petition 
of  the  Trustees  was  granted. 

The  church  was  very  reluctant  to  give  up  their  beloved  and 
faithful  pastor,  whose  labors  among  them  had  been  signally 
blessed  of  God;  but,  in  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
College,  and  of  Mr.  Burr's  relations  to  it,  they  finally  acquiesced 
in  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  as  right  and  proper. 

*  The  mention  of  the  President's  house  in  this  connection,  and  the  manner  of 
mentioning  it,  indicate  that  it  had  been  occupied  by  Mr.  Burr  and  his  family.  This 
resolution  was  adopted  on  the  2jth  of  September,  1757,  three  days  after  the  decease 
of  President  Burr. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND    LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


I65 


As  a  scholar,  a  teacher,  and  a  preacher,  Mr.  Burr  was  held 
in  the  highest  esteem  by  his  cotemporaries.  His  success  in  the 
discharge  of  his  varied  and  responsible  duties  is  evidence  of  his 
great  intellectual  vigor  and  of  his  indomitable  energy;  and  the 
results  seem  to  justify  what  to  some  may  appear  to  be  only  the 
extravagant  eulogies  of  warm  personal  friendships  on  the  part 
of  those  who  have  left  us  memorials  of  Mr.  Burr's  life  and 
labors  as  seen  by  themselves. 

His  publications  were  a  Latin  Grammar,  commonly  known  as 
the  Newark  Grammar;  a  treatise  entitled  "The  Supreme  Deity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  maintained  in  a  Letter  to  the  Editor 
of  Mr.  Emlyn's  Inquiry,"  reprinted  in  Boston  in  1791 ;  "A  Fast 
Sermon,  on  account  of  the  Encroachment  of  the  French,  and 
their  Designs  against  the  British  Colonies  in  America,  delivered 
at  Newark,  January  i,  1755;"  "  The  Watchman's  Answer  to  the 
Question, 'What  of  the  night?'  (Isaiah*  xxi.  1 1,  1 2.)  A  Sermon 
before  the  Synod  of  New  York,  convened  at  Newark,  Septem- 
ber, 1750;"  and  a  funeral  sermon,  at  Elizabethtown,  on  the 
occasion  of  Governor  Belcher's  death,  September  4,  1757.  The 
sermon  before  the  Synod  was  delivered  by  him  at  the  opening 
of  Synod's  sessions,  he  having  been  the  Moderator  of  the  Synod 
at  their  meeting  the  year  previous.  The  preparation  and  the 
preaching  of  the  funeral  sermon  for  Governor  Belcher,  under 
the  exposure  and  the  fatigue  to  which  he  had  been  recently 
subjected,  brought  on  the  extreme  prostration  and  the  accom- 
panying fever  which  ended  in  his  own  death.* 

It  is  not  probable  that,  with  the  immense  burden  resting  upon 
him  almost  perpetually  after  he  took  charge  of  the  College,  he 
was  able  to  prepare  for  the  press  any  other  works  than  those 
enumerated  above;  but  the  writer  of  this  article  learned  from 
Colonel  Burr,  the  only  son  of  President  Burr,  that  his  father's 

*  Mrs.  Burr,' in. acknowledging  the  receipt  of  9.  letter  addressed  to  President 
Burr  by  one  of  his  friends  in  Scotland,  thus  refers  to  this  last  discourse :  "  I  here 
enclose  you,  sir,  the  last  attempt  my  dear  husband  made  to  serve  God  in  public, — 
a  sermon  which  he  preached  at  the  funeral  of  our  late  excellent  Governor.  You 
will  not  think  it  strange,  if  it  has  imperfections,  when  I  tell  you  that  all  he  wrote 
on  the  subject  was  done  in  a  part  of  one  afternoon  and  evening,  when  he  had  a 
violent  fever  on  him,  and  the  whole  night  after  he  was  irrational."  (  Edwards's 
"  Life,"  page  566.) 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

papers,  and  some  of  his  own,  which  had  been  left  for  safe-keep- 
ing in  the  hands  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Theodosia  Allston,  were 
lost  with  her  upon  her  last  voyage  from  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  to  New  York,  the  ship  having  no  doubt  foundered  at 
sea,  as  it  was  never  heard  from  after  leaving  port. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1/52,  Mr.  Burr  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Esther,  the  third  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
his  successor  in  office.  Mrs.  Burr  is  spoken  of  as  a  lady  re- 
markable for  her  beauty  of  person,  her  intelligence  and  piety, 
and  as  admirably  suited  to  the  station  she  was  called  to  occupy 
as  the  wife  of  President  Burr,  whom  she  survived  less  than 
a  year,  dying  on  the  7th  of  April,  1758,  a  few  weeks  after  the 
decease  of  her  father,  President  Edwards.  She  left  two  chil- 
dren, a  son  and  a  daughter.  The  son  was  Colonel  Aaron  Burr, 
at  one  time  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  ;  the  daughter, 
Sarah  Burr,  the  elder  of  the  two  children,  was  married  to  the 
Hon.  Tappan  Reeve,  an  eminent  lawyer,  who  was  for  some 
years  Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut,  and  founder  of  the  famous 
Law  School  of  Litchfield  in  that  State. 

On  his  death-bed,  Mr.  Burr  gave  directions  that  no  unneces- 
sary parade  should  be  made  at  his  funeral,  and  no  expenses 
incurred  beyond  what  Christian  decency  required;  and  that  the 
sum  which  must  be  expended  at  a  fashionable  funeral  above 
the  necessary  cost  of  a  decent  one  should  be  given  to  the  poor 
out  of  his  estate.* 

Upon  the  death  of  President  Burr,  a  eulogy  and  a  funeral  ser- 
mon were  prepared  and  published  by  two  of  his  intimate  friends, 
the  eulogy  by  William  Livingston,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  but 
subsequently  the  first  Governor  of  New  Jersey  after  the  Revo- 
lution, the  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  of  Newark 
Mountains.  The  sermon  was  prepared  and  preached  at  the 
request  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  and  published  at  their 
expense.  A  monumental  stone  was  placed  over  President 
Burr's  grave  by  order  of  the  Trustees,  and  at  their  request  the 
inscription  for  it  was  prepared  by  the  Hon.  William  Smith, 


*  President  Edwards,  six  months  after,  requested  his  own  funeral  might  be  con- 
ducted in  the  manner  Mr.  Burr's  was. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  LIFE    OF  PRESIDENT  BURR. 


I67 


Esq.,  a  member  of  the  Board.  Obituary  notices  of  President 
Burr  appeared  both  in  the  "  New  York  Mercury"  and  in  the 
"  Pennsylvania  Gazette."  It  is  believed,  and  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable,  that  the  one  in  the  "  Gazette"  was  written  by  its 
eminent  editor,  Benjamin  Franklin.  It  was  as  follows:  "Sept. 
29>  17S7'  Last  Saturday  died  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  President 
of  the  New  Jersey  College,  a  gentleman  and  a  Christian,  as 
universally  beloved  as  known  ;  an  agreeable  companion,  a  faith- 
ful friend,  a  tender  and  affectionate  husband,  and  a  good  father ; 
remarkable  for  his  industry,  integrity,  strict  honesty,  and  pure, 
undissembled  piety ;  his  benevolence  as  disinterested  as  uncon- 
fined,  an  excellent  preacher,  a  great  scholar,  and  a  very  great 
man."  After  citing  this  notice,  Dr.  Stearns  makes  the  follow- 
ing comment :  "  The  glowing  eulogy  of  William  Livingston, 
supported  by  the  plain,  unvarnished  statements  of  Caleb  Smith, 
and  endorsed  by  the  weighty  testimony  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
seems  to  leave  little  more  to  be  desired  in  attestation  of  the  gen- 
uine merit  of  the  subject  of  its  commendation ;"  and  yet  the 
writer  will  venture  to  add  the  testimony  of  President  Edwards  in 
his  letter  of  October  19,  1757,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  : 
"  This  makes  me  shrink  at  the  thought  of  taking  upon  me  in 
the  decline  of  life  such  a  new  and  great  business,  attended  with 
such  a  multiplicity  of  cares,  and  requiring  such  a  degree  of 
activity,  alertness,  and  spirit  of  government,  especially  as  suc- 
ceeding one  so  remarkably  well  qualified  in  these  respects, 
giving  occasion  to  every  one  to  remark  the  wide  difference." 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  President  Burr's  tomb- 
stone : 

M.  S. 

Reverend!  admodum  Viri, 

'  Aaronis  Burr,  A.M.,  Collegii  Neo-Caesariensis  Praesidis, 
Natus  apud  Fairfield  Connecticutensium  IV.  jfanuarii 

A.D.  MDCCXVI.  S.  V. 
Honesta  in  eadem  Colonia  Familia  oriundus, 

Collegio  Yalensi  innutritus. 

Novarcae  Sacris  initiatus,  MDCCXXXVIII. 

Annos  circiter  viginti  pastorali  munere 

Fideliter  functus. 

Collegii  N.  C.  Pnesidium'MDCCXLVIII  accepit, 
In  Nassoviae  Aulam  sub  finem  MDCCLVI  translatus. 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Defunctus  in  hoc  Vico  24  Septembris 

A.D.  MDCCLVII.  S.  N. 

Aetatis  XLII.     Eheu  quam  brevis  ! 

Huic  Marmori  subjicitur,  quod  mori  potuit 

Quod  immortale,  vendicarunt  coeli : 
Quaeris  Viator  qualis  quantusque  fuit  ? 

Perpaucis  accipe. 

Vir  corpore  parvo  ac  tenui, 

Studiis,  vigiliis,  assicluisque  Laboribus, 

Macro. 

Sagacitate,  Perspicacitate,  Agilitate, 
Ac  Solertia,  (si  fas  dicere) 
Plusquam  humana,  pene 

Angelica. 

Anima  ferine  totus, 
Omnigena  Literatura  instructus, 

Theologia  praestantior : 
Concionator  volubilis,  suavis  et  suadus; 

Orator  facundus  ; 

Moribus  facilis,  candidus  et  jucundus ; 

Vita  egregie  liberalis  ac  beneficus  ; 

Supra  vero  omnia  emicuerunt 

Pietas  ac  Benevolentia. 
Sed  ah  !  quanta  et  quota  Ingenii, 
Industrise,  Prudentias,  Patientiaa, 
Caeterarumque  omnium  Virtutum 

Exemplaria, 
Marmoris  sepulchralis  Angustia 

Reticebit. 
Multum  desideratus,  multum 

Dilectus, 

Human!  generis  Delicise, 

O  !  infandum  sui  Desiderium, 

Gemit  Ecclesia,  plorat 

Academia : 
At  Coelum  plaudit,  dum  ille 

Ingreditur 
In  Gaudium  Domini 

Dulce  loquentis, 
Euge  bone  et  fidelis 

Serve ! 
Abi  Viator  tuam  respice  finem  ! 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  ANNUAL  COMMENCEMENT  OF  1757,  AND  THE  ELECTION  AND 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  PRESIDENT  EDWARDS. 

THE  Commencement  of  1757  took  place  at  Princeton,  on 
Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September,  just  four  days  after  the  de- 
cease of  President  Burr.  On  this  occasion  the  Trustees,  with 
one  exception,  were  all  present.  At  their  request  the  Hon. 
William  Smith,  a  member  of  the  Board,  presided  at  the  Com- 
mencement exercises,  and  conferred  the  usual  degrees.  The 
two  oldest  ministers  of  their  number,  viz.,  the  Rev.  John  Pier- 
son  and  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  were  chosen  to  open  and  to 
conclude  the  exercises  with  prayer.  Twenty-two  candidates 
were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  four  to  the 
second  degree. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Board,  the  Trustees  ordered  that  the 
diploma  fees  for  this  Commencement  be  paid  to  Mrs.  Burr 
"  for  her  proper  use."  They  also  ordered,  "That  any  sum  not 
exceeding  Twenty  Pounds  be  laid  out  in  erecting  a  monument 
to  the  memory  of  the  late  President  Burr."  Mr.  Robert  Smith 
was  "  desired  to  provide  a  proper  marble  stone  for  the  pur- 
pose," and  the  Hon.  William  Smith  was  "requested  to  prepare 
a  Latin  inscription  for  said  monument." 

The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  was  requested  to  prepare  a  funeral 
sermon  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Burr's  death,  and  to  print  the 
same  at  the  expense  of  the  College.  With  this  request  he 
complied,  and  his  excellent  discourse  is  the  source  from  which 
our  knowledge  of  Mr.  Burr's  labors  and  life  is  mainly  de- 
rived. The  Hon.  William  Smith  prepared  the  Latin  inscription, 
which  being  referred  to  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Caleb  Smith  and 
Jacob  Green,  and  revised  by  them,  was  engraved  on  the  marble 
monument. 

VOL.  i. — 12  169 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Governor  Belcher  having  died  on  the  3ist  of  August,  1/57, 
Samuel  Woodruff  and  Robert  Ogden,  Esquires,  were  requested 
by  the  Trustees  "  to  see  that  all  the  Books,  with  the  other 
Things  given  by  his  Excellency  for  the  use  of  the  College,  be 
conveyed  to  this  Place." 

THE   ELECTION    OF   THE    REV.    JONATHAN    EDWARDS. 

On  the  day  following,  viz.,  Thursday,  the  2Qth  of  September, 
1757,  the  Trustees  took  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  ap- 
pointing at  once  a  successor  to  President  Burr.  The  minute  in 
regard  to  it  is  in  these  words : 

"  A  choice  of  a  President  being  proposed  to  the  Board,  it  was  ordered  to  be  put 
to  Vote  whether  the  said  President  be  now  chosen  or  not;  which  being  Voted 
accordingly,  was  carried  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Whereupon  after  Prayers  particularly  on  this  occasion,  and  the  number  of 
Trustees  present  being  twenty,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  of  Stockbridge, 
was  chosen  by  a  majority  of  seventeen ;  and  this  Board  requests  that  Messrs.  Liv- 
ingston and  Spencer,  of  their  Number,  would  draw  the  draught  of  a  Letter  re- 
questing that  the  said  Mr.  Edwards  would  accept  of  the  said  choice ;  and  also  of  an 
Address  to  the  Honorable  the  Commissioners  for  propagating  the  Gospel  among 
the  Heathen  in  America,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  requesting  the  said 
'Commissioners  to  liberate  the  said  Mr.  Edwards  from  his  pastoral  charge  of  the 
Indian  Congregation  at  Stockbridge  and  the  Mission  given  him  by  the  said  Com- 
missioners ;  and  that  the  said  Letter  and  Address  be  signed  in  behalf  of  this  Board 
by  the  Clerk  of  the  same." 

Previously  to  engaging  in  this  election,  the  Trustees  voted, 
"  That  the  salary  of  the  President  should  be  two  hundred 
pounds  proclamation  money  of  the  Province,  together  with  the 
use  of  the  President's  house  and  the  Improved  lands,  with 
Liberty  of  getting  his  Fire-wood  on  the  land  belonging  to  the 
Corporation." 

It  was  also  voted  that  twenty  pounds  should  be  paid  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Edwards  for  the  expenses  of  moving  his  family  to 
Princeton.  The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  draft  of 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Edwards,  and  of  an  address  to  the  Commis- 
sioners above  mentioned,  brought  in  the  said  drafts ;  which, 
being  read,  were  approved,  and  the  Clerk  was  ordered  to  tran- 
scribe the  same  and  to  send  them  as  soon  as  may  be  to  the 
persons  for  whom  they  were  designed. 


ELECTION  OF  THE  REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.       ljl 

In  reference  to  the  grammar-school  connected  with  the  Col- 
lege, the  following  minute  was  made  by  order  of  the  Board  : 

"  Mr.  President  Burr  in  his  life-time  having  set  up  and  carried  on  a  Grammar 
School  in  this  College,  which  by  his  death  will  now  fail  unless  proper  care  be 
taken  for  its  support,  the  Trustees  therefore,  in  Consideration  of  its  importance  in 
general  and  in  particular  to  this  Society,  do  agree  to  take  the  said  School  under  their 
immediate  Direction  and  Government,  and  do  appoint  Mr.  Montgomerie  to  be  the 
Master  of  the  said  School,  and  that  Mr.  McWhorter*  serve  as  an  Usher  under  him 
for  the  ensuing  year ;  and  if  the  School  continues  to  consist  of  Twenty  Scholars  or 
upwards,  said  Master  shall  be  allowed  forty-five  Pounds,  and  the  Usher  fifteen 
Pounds,  provided  he  gives  his  attendance  in  the  School  three  hours  in  the  Day ; 
but  in  case  the  School  decrease  to  sixteen  or  under,  then  the  Master  shall  have  the 
Charge  of  said  School,  and  be  entitled  to  three  Quarters  of  the  Tuition  Money. 
The  Tuition  Money  for  each  student  to  be  four  Pounds  per  annum." 

At  this  meeting  provision  was  also  made  for  the  temporary 
oversight  and  inspection  of  the  College,  by  the  appointment  of 
the  Rev.  William  Tennent  President  pro  tern.,  and  authority 
was  given  to  the  Clerk  to  call  an  extra  meeting  of  the  Board  at 
any  time  within  three  months.  And  in  case  Mr.  Edwards 
should  not  attend  and  accept  the  office  of  President  of  the  Col- 
lege at  the  end  of  the  vacation,  the  Clerk  was  instructed  to  re- 
quest Mr.  Isaac  Smith,  a  graduate  of  the  College  in  1755,  "  to 
act  in  the  Place  of  a  Tutor  until  the  President  can  attend." 

During  the  last  year  of  his  Presidency  Mr.  Burr  was  assisted 
by  two  excellent  Tutors,  viz.,  Benjamin  Youngs  Prime,  a  grad' 
uate  of  the  College  in  1751,  and  John  Ewing,  a  graduate  in 
1754.  Mr.  Prime  having  tendered  his  resignation,  the  Board 
adopted  the  following  resolution,  viz.  : 

"  Mr.  Prime,  one  of  the  Tutors,  applying  to  this  Board  for  a  Dismission  from 
his  office,  It  is  ordered,  that  at  the  request  of  the  said  Mr.  Prime  he  be  dismissed 
accordingly.  Nevertheless,  the  Trustees  being  fully  sensible  of  the  abilities  of  the 
said  Mr.  Prime,  and  of  his  having  faithfully  executed  his  said  Office  during  the 
Time  of  his  continuance  therein,  do  with  great  Reluctance  part  with  the  said  Mr. 
Prime ;  and  as  a  Testimony  of  their  sense  of  his  good  Conduct  and  Merit,  do  pre- 
sent him  with  the  sum  of  Ten  Pounds  over  and  above  his  salary,  and  are  Sorry 
that  the  smallness  of  their  Fund  will  not  admit  of  their  giving  him  a  larger  sum." 

At  this  time  the  usual  salary  of  a  Tutor  in  this  College  was 

*  The  Mr.  McWhorter  mentioned  in  this  minute  is  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander 
McWhorter,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark,  who  had  just  been 
admitted  to  his  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 


lj 2        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

forty  pounds  a  year,  but  at  this  meeting  of  the  Board  it  was  in- 
creased to  fifty  pounds  a  year;  and  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Ewing 
it  was  also  voted,  "That  this  Board,  in  consideration  of  the  ex- 
traordinary services  which  are  justly  expected  of  Mr.  Ewing, 
a  Tutor  for  the  ensuing  year,  will  allow  the  said  Mr.  Ewing 
the  sum  of  fifty  pounds  over  and  above  the  aforesaid  salary." 
The  Mr.  Ewing  here  mentioned  is  the  well-known  scholar  and 
divine,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Ewing,  for  many  years  the  distin- 
guished Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

At  their  present  session  the  Trustees  also  enacted  several 
additional  rules  with  respect  to  the  conduct  of  the  students  in 
the  College  edifice,  which  rules  had  been  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Board,  and  of  which 
committee  Mr.  Burr  was  the  first  named. 

"  The  eleventh  of  these  rules  was  as  follows :  '  Every  student  shall  pay  four  shil- 
lings per  Quarter  for  Study-rent,  sweeping  their  Rooms,  and  making  their  Beds; 
and  such  as  smoke  or  chew  Tobacco,  five  shillings,  and  one  shilling  for  incidental 
charges.'  " 

The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  having  tendered  his  resignation  as 
Clerk  of  the  Board,  in  consequence  of  his  residence  being  now 
at  a  distance  from  the  College,  by  its  removal  to  Princeton, 
Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  Board,  was  unani- 
mously chosen  Clerk  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Smith,  and  generously 
undertook  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office  as  Clerk  without 
compensation. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  took  place  on  the  I4th  of 
December,  1757,  thirteen  members  being  present,  and  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Leonard,  Esq.,  in  the  chair. 

The  Trustees,  taking  into  consideration  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Edwards  in  relation  to  his  dismission  from  his  pastoral  charge 
at  Stockbridge,  voted, 

"  That  it  is  highly  proper  that  one  of  their  members  do  endeavor,  if  possible,  to 
attend  the  Ecclesiastical  Council  who  are  to  convene  for  that  purpose,  and  there 
represent  in  behalf  of  this  Board  the  Reasons  for  the  propriety  of  such  Dismission." 

Continuing  their  session  through  the  following  day,  the 
Trustees,  on  the  morning  of  the  I5th,  voted, 

"  That  if  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edwards  come  and  take  upon  him  the  Charge  of  the 
College  this  Winter,  that  he  be  entitled  to  the  President's  salary  for  the  whole  of 


ELECTION  OF   THE    REV.   JONATHAN  EDWARDS.       l^ 

this  year;  and  that  he  have  the  liberty  of  receiving  one-half  of  his  salary  at  the 
end  of  six  months  from  the  last  Commencement." 

At  their  meeting,  April  19,  the  Trustees  ordered  the  Treasurer 
to  pay  to  the  executors  of  Mr.  Edwards  one  hundred  pounds,  a 
half-year's  salary. 

The  next  record  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Caleb  Smith  and  John  Brainerd  are  requested  immediately 
to  proceed  to  Stockbridge,  if  possible,  to  attend  the  Ecclesiastical  Council  to  con- 
vene relative  to  Mr.  Edwards's  Dismission;  and  that  the  sum  of  _^2O  be  paid 
them  for  their  services." 

It  appears  from  the  minutes  of  this  meeting  that  the  Rev. 
William  Tennent,  "for  his  services  in  inspecting  the  government 
of  the  College,"  was  paid  eleven  pounds,  and  that  the  Rev. 
David  Cowell,  of  Trenton,  was  chosen  President  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Trustees,  and  that,  accepting  the  appointment, 
he  was  qualified  as  the  charter  directs. 

"  It  was  voted,  That  the  President  of  the  College  and  the  Clerk  for  the  time  being 
(viz.,  Rev.  David  Cowell  and  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.)  be  a  Committee  to  transact 
the  affairs  about  Mr.  Edwards's  Removal,"  with  power  to  add  to  their  number. 

Messrs.  Caleb  Smith  and  John  Brainerd  attended  the  Eccle- 
siastical Council  at  Stockbridge, and  secured  the  release  of  Mr. 
Edwards  from  his  pastoral  charge,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  Jan- 
uary he  repaired  to  Princeton.  The  Council,  as  appears  from 
a  letter  of  Mr.  Edwards,  of  the  date  of  December  I,  1757,  to 
his  friend  and  former  pupil,  Mr.  Bellamy,  of  Bethlehem,  was 
called  for  the  2ist  of  the  same  month,  but  for  some  reason  not 
now  known  it  did  not  assemble  until  the  4th  of  January  follow- 
ing. The  decision  of  the  Council  having  been  announced  to 
Mr.  Edwards  and  to  the  church  of  which  he  was  pastor,  he 
submitted  to  their  judgment,  and  made  his  arrangements  to  go 
without  delay  to  Princeton,  leaving  his  family  in  Stockbridge, 
to  remain  there  until  the  ensuing  spring. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Princeton,  measures  were  promptly  taken 
to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College.  They  met 
accordingly  on  Thursday,  the  i6th  day  of  February,  1758,  and 
among  the  minutes  of  that  meeting  is  the  following : 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  at  the  repeated  Requests  and  Invitations  of 
this  Board,  and  agreeably  to  a  vote  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  in  Septem- 


^4        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

her  last,  attending,  and  having  been  pleased  to  accept  the  office  of  President  of  the 
College,  so  unanimously  voted  him,  was  qualified  as  the  charter  directs ;  and  the 
said  President  Edwards  was  at  the  same  time  qualified  as  a  Trustee  of  the  College, 
and  took  his  seat  accordingly." 

Several  matters  relating  to  the  order  and  government  of  the 
College  and  of  the  grammar-school  were  considered  by  the 
Board  at  this  meeting,  and  it  was  voted, 

"  That  President  Edwards  have  the  direction,  care,  and  government  of  the 
Grammar  School,  with  its  Masters  and  Ushers,  and  have  authority  to  introduce  the 
elements  of  Geography,  History,  and  Chronology,  if  he  judge  proper;  and  that  he 
have  the  profits  of  said  school." 

Mr.  Robert  Smith,  the  architect  employed  by  the  Trustees  in 
the  erection  of  the  College  buildings,  was  desired  to  make  some 
improvements  in  the  President's  house.  At  this  meeting  it  was 

"  Voted,  That  the  Law  obliging  the  students  to  wear  peculiar  Habits  be  repealed." 

The  law  here  referred  to  was  enacted  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  held  September  24,  1755. 

Provision  was  made  for  an  address  to  the  new  Governor  in 
the  name  of  the  Trustees,  should  one  be  appointed  and  come 
into  the  Province  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board.  The 
performance  of  this  duty  was  devolved  upon  the  President  of 
the  College  and  the  Clerk  of  the  Board.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  settle  with  the  Treasurer,  and  to  report  to  the 
Board  the  amount  of  funds  in  his  hands.  The  Treasurer  was 
directed  to  pay  the  Rev.  Mr.  David  Cowell,  for  his  inspection  of 
the  College  from  the  I4th  of  December  to  the  time  of  Presi- 
dent Edwards's  arrival  in  Princeton,  the  sum  of  eleven  pounds. 

At  the  request  of  the  senior  Tutor,  Mr.  Ewing,  that  a  pro- 
visional arrangement  should  be  made  for  supplying  his  place  in 
case  he  should  decide  to  leave,  it  was  voted  that  President 
Edwards  have  power,  in  that  case,  to  employ  any  gentleman 
he  thought  proper  upon  Trial  for  the  office  of  Tutor,  until  the 
next  meeting. 

.  The  Treasurer  was  directed  to  pay  the  bill  for  printing  Mr. 
Burr's  sermon  at  the  funeral  of  Governor  Belcher,  and  the  Rev. 
Caleb  Smith  was  requested  to  take  charge  of  the  sale  of  the 


ELECTION  OF   THE  REV.   JONATHAN  EDWARDS.       ^5 

copies,  and  to  account  to  the  Treasurer  for  the  money  arising 
from  said  sale. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  "  drawing  of  a  Lottery  for  the 
College,  to  raise  a  sum  not  exceeding  .£600,  the  price  of  a 
ticket  to  be  two  dollars." 

It  was  also  voted  that  there  should  be  a  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  at  every  Commencement. 

The  above  is  a  summary  of  the  business  done  at  the  only 
meeting  of  the  Trustees  ever  attended  by  Mr.  Edwards,  and 
that  was  a  special  meeting  called  more  particularly  for  the 
purpose  of  inducting  him  into  the  office  of  President. 

One  week  after  this  meeting,  viz.,  on  the  23d  of  February, 
he  was  inoculated  for  the  smallpox,  and  on  the  22d  of  March 
he  died.  His  active  service,  therefore,  in  behalf  of  the  College 
must  all  have  taken  place  within  four  or  five  weeks,  and  yet  the 
power  of  his  name  for  good  is  felt  by  the  College  to  this  day. 
Probably  no  man  ever  connected  with  this  institution  has  con- 
tributed so  much  to  the  reputation  of  the  College,  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  In  the  narrative  of  his  life,  published  in  connec- 
tion with  his  works,  it  is  said,  "  While  at  Princeton,  before  his 
sickness,  he  preached  in  the  College  hall,  but  did  nothing  as 
President,  unless  it  was  to  give  out  some  questions  in  divinity 
to  the  Senior  class,  to  be  answered  before  him,  each  one  having 
opportunity  to  study  and  write  what  he  thought  proper  upon 
them.  When  they  came  together  to  answer  them,  they  found 
so  much  entertainment  and  profit  by  it,  especially  by  the  light 
and  instruction  Mr.  Edwards  communicated,  in  what  he  said 
upon  the  questions  when  they  delivered  what  they  had  to  say, 
that  they  spoke  of  it  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  and  wonder." 
(See  Dr.  S.  E.  Dwight's  "  Life  of  Edwards,"  page  577,  copied 
from  Dr.  Hopkins's.) 

The  first  sermon  he  preached  in  Princeton  was  on  the  un- 
changeableness  of  Christ,  and  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  eighth 
volume  of  his  works.  From  this  we  may  infer  what  would 
have  been  the  character  of  his  religious  teachings  in  the  Col- 
lege had  he  been  spared  to  preside  for  a  length  of  time  over 
its  discipline  and  instruction. 

During  the  time  of  his  being  at  Princeton  he  was  assisted 


j-,6        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

by  two  excellent  Tutors,  one  already  mentioned  as  a  Tutor 
under  President  Burr,  Mr.  John  Ewing,  and  the  other  Mr.  Jere- 
miah Halsey,  who, -to  the  great  benefit  of  the  institution  and  to 
the  equally  great  satisfaction  of  the  Trustees,  held  his  office  for 
ten  years.  The  respective  duties  of  these  two  gentlemen  will 
appear  from  the  following  minute  adopted  at  the  meeting  of 
February  16: 

"  The  Board  further  judge  most  advisable,  in  the  present  circumstances,  and  do 
accordingly  vote,  that  Mr.  Ewen  [Ewing]  take  the  Junior  and  the  Sophomore  classes 
under  his  particular  tuition,  and  that  Mr.  Halsey  apply  himself  to  the  instruction 
of  the  Senior  and  Freshman  classes." 

Of  the  College  curriculum  at  this  date  we  have  no  particular 
information,  there  being  no  Faculty  records  in  existence,  and 
the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  containing  no  details  of  the  duties 
discharged  by  the  several  officers  of  the  College. 

From  Mr.  Edwards's  letter  of  the  date  of  October  19,  1/57, 
in  reply  to  the  one  informing  him  of  his  election  to  the  office 
of  President,  we  may  gather  some  idea  of  the  course  of  study 
and  of  instruction: 

Among  the  reasons  which  made  him  doubt  the  propriety  of  his  accepting  the 
appointment  he  mentions  his  deficiency  "  in  some  parts  of  learning,  particularly  in 
Algebra  and  the  higher  parts  of  Mathematics,  and  in  the  Greek  classics ;  my  Greek 
learning  having  been  chiefly  in  the  New  Testament."  Again  he  remarks,  "  If  I 
should  see  light  to  determine  me  to  accept  the  place  offered  me,  I  should  be  willing 
to  take  upon  me  the  work  of  a  president,  so  far  as  it  consists  in  the  general  inspec- 
tion of  the  whole  society;  and  to  be  subservient  to  the  school,  as  to  their  order  and 
methods  of  study  and  instruction,  assisting  myself  in  the  immediate  instruction  in 
the  Arts  and  Sciences  (as  discretion  should  direct,  and  occasion  serve,  and  the  state 
of  things  require),  especially  of  the  Senior  class;  and,  added  to  all,  should  be  will- 
ing to  do  the  whole  work  of  a  professor  of  divinity,  in  public  and  private  lectures, 
proposing  questions  to  be  answered,  and  some  to  be  discussed  in  writing  and  free 
conversation,  in  meetings  of  graduates  and  others,  appointed  in  proper  seasons,  for 
these  ends.  It  would  now  be  out  of  my  way  to  spend  time  in  constant  teaching 
of  the  languages,  unless  it  be  the  Hebrew  tongue,  which  I  should  be  willing  to 
improve  myself  in  by  instructing  others." 

In  these  extracts  we  doubtless  have  sketched  an  outline  of 
what  would  have  been  the  course  of  instruction  during  his 
administration  had  his  life  been  spared.  The  plan  embraces 
instruction  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages,  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  and  in  the  teachings  of  Holy  Scripture.  Most 


ELECTION  OF   THE  REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.       ijj 

of  these  studies,  if  not  all,  together  with  composition  and 
declamation,  had  been  matters  of  attention  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Burr.  It  is  highly  probable  that  Mr.  Ewing,  the 
senior  Tutor,  instructed  the  classes  assigned  to  him  in  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  Mr.  Halsey  his  classes  in 
the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  After  Mr.  Ewing's  decease,  a 
course  of  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  delivered  by  him  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  were  published  at  Philadelphia; 
and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  substance  of  these 
lectures  was  prepared  for  the  instruction  of  his  pupils  at 
Nassau  Hall. 

Mr.  Isaac  Smith,  a  graduate  of  the  College  in  1755,  was 
associated  with  Messrs.  Ewing  and  Halsey,  as  a  Tutor,  for  a 
few  months  before  Mr.  Edwards's  induction  into  office  as  Presi- 
dent. Mr.  Smith  was  subsequently  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  Jersey,  and  also  a  member  of  the  National  Con- 
gress. 

From  the  foregoing  narrative  it  appears  that  the  following- 
named  gentlemen  had  charge  of  the  instruction  and  government 
of  the  students  from  the  time  of  Mr.  Edwards's  election,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1757,  until  his  decease,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1758: 

Rev.  William  Tennent,  from  the  opening  of  the  session  until 
December  14,  1757. 

Rev.  David  Cowell,  from  December  14,  1757,  until  Mr.  Ed- 
wards's arrival  in  Princeton,  in  the  latter  part  of  January,  1758. 

President  Edwards  himself,  from  the  time  of  his  reaching 
Princeton  until  his  decease,  March  22,  1758. 

The  Tutors  were  Messrs.  John  Ewing,  Jeremiah  Halsey,  and 
Isaac  Smith. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MEMOIR   OF   THE   REV.   JONATHAN    EDWARDS,   THIRD    PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

THIS  eminent  man,  the  only  son  of  the  Rev.  Timothy  Ed- 
wards, of  Windsor,  Connecticut,  was  born  at  Windsor  on  the 
5th  of  October,  1703.  The  mother  of  President  Edwards  was 
Esther  Stoddard,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  of 
Northampton,  Massachusetts.  The  father  and  maternal  grand- 
father were  both  held  in  repute  for  talent,  piety,  and  learning. 
Their  families,  which  were  unusually  large,  are  connected  by 
intermarriage  with  many  of  the  prominent  families  in  New 
England,  and  in  other  parts  of  our  country. 

The  studies  requisite  for  admission  to  college  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  pursued  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  and  he 
was  admitted  to  Yale  College  when  but  a  youth  of  thirteen 
years  of  age.  His  proficiency  even  in  childhood  was  such  as 
to  give  hope  of  his  becoming  what  he  did  become,  a  careful 
observer  and  a  profound  thinker.  While  yet  a  youth  he  evinced 
a  great  fondness  for  philosophical  speculations.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  read  with  delight  and  profit  Locke's  "  Essay  on  the 
Human  Understanding,"  and  his  college  course  was  marked 
with  sobriety  of  deportment  and  with  improvement  in  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  learning.  He  is  said  to  have  maintained  the 
highest  standing  in  his  class,  and  to  have  been  graduated  with 
the  highest  honors. 

The  mention  made  by  one  of  his  biographers  of  "  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew"  does 
not  accord  fully  with  his  own  account  of  his  proficiency  in 
these  languages,  given  in  his  letter  of  October  19,  1757,  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  College,  in  which  he  says,  "  I  am  also  deficient 
in  some  parts  of  learning,  particularly  .  .  .  ,  and  in  the  Greek 
classics ;  my  Greek  learning  having  been  chiefly  in  the  New 
178 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS. 

Testament."  And  again  he  says,  "  It  would  now  be  out  of 
my  way  to  spend  time  in  constant  teaching  of  the  languages, 
unless  it  be  the  Hebrew  tongue,  which  I  should  be  willing  to 
improve  myself  in  by  instructing  others." 

Although  having  a  keen  relish  for  all  matters  pertaining  to 
natural  philosophy,  which  he  is  said  to  have  cultivated  to  the 
end  of  his  life,  yet  moral  philosophy  and  divinity  were  his 
favorite  subjects  of  study. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  in  the  autumn 
of  1720,  just  before  attaining  the  age  of  seventeen  ;  and  entering 
at  once  upon  the  study  of  theology,  he  remained  at  College  for 
nearly  two  years  after  he  had  finished  the  usual  under-graduate 
course.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  before  he  had  completed 
his  nineteenth  year,  and  at  the  request  of  a  small  society  of 
Presbyterians  in  the  city  of  New  York,  he  began  his  ministerial 
labors  among  them.  He  supplied  their  pulpit  for  about  eight 
months ;  but  finding  that  the  congregation,  which  was  a  frag- 
ment of  one  still  older,  were  unable  to  support  a  minister,  he 
gave  up  his  charge  and  returned  to  New  England. 

He  was  solicited  to  resume  his  labors  in  New  York,  but  de- 
clined, influenced  in  all  probability  by  the  conviction  that  there 
was  no  sufficient  reason  for  the  attempt  to  erect  another  Pres- 
byterian church  in  that  city  at  that  time,  and  that  if  he  refused 
to  return,  the  persons  to  whom  he  preached  would  resume  their 
former  relations  with  the  church  already  established,  and  under 
the  charge  of  an  able  and  worthy  minister  of  the  gospel,  the 
Rev.  James  Anderson,  a  native  of  Scotland. 

In  September,  1723,  he  received  his  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  chosen  a  Tutor  in  Yale  Col- 
lege. Upon  the  duties  of  this  office,  however,  he  did  not  enter 
until  the  next  June.  About  this  period  several  congregations 
were  desirous  to  have  him  for  their  pastor ;  but  all  these  invita- 
tions he  declined.  In  the  summer  of  1726,  the  people  of  North- 
ampton, Massachusetts,  invited  him  to  become  the  colleague 
of  his  venerable  grandfather,  the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  and 
among  the  reasons  urged  for  his  acceptance  of  this  call  was  the 
one  that  his  grandfather,  by  reason  of  his  great  age,  stood  in 
need  of  assistance.  Accepting  their  proposal,  he  resigned  his 


HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

office  of  Tutor  at  the  close  of  the  college  year,  and  on  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1728,  he  was  set  apart  to  the  pastoral  office  in  the 
church  of  Northampton,  being  at  that  time  in  the  twenty-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  His  grandfather  dying  in  February,  1729,  Mr. 
Edwards  became  the  sole  pastor.  He  continued  at  Northamp- 
ton about  twenty-four  years.  From  the  time  of  his  settlement 
until  the  year  1744,  Mr.  Edwards's  ministrations  were  highly 
acceptable  to  his  people  and  greatly  blessed  to  their  spiritual 
good.  In  the  years  1734  and  1735  there  was  a  powerful  awaken- 
ing among  the  people  of  his  charge.  "  His  preaching,"  says 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  "  during  this  period  was  eminently  doc- 
trinal, and  was  of  the  most  pungent,  heart-searching,  and  often 
terrific  character.  Among  the  subjects  of  the  revival  were  per- 
sons of  every  class  and  character,  and  for  a  while  the  whole 
community  seemed  to  have  undergone  a  moral  renovation. 
Towards  the  close  of  1735  the  work  began  to  decline,  after 
which  there  seems  to  have  been  no  unusual  attention  until  the 
early  part  of  1740,  when  there  occurred  another  powerful  re- 
vival." His  pungent  preaching,  though  doubtless  distasteful 
to  some  of  his  hearers,  was  nevertheless  acceptable  to  the 
people  generally,  and  they  felt  honored  in  having  for  their 
minister  a  man  of  Mr.  Edwards's  rare  ability  in  the  pulpit,  and 
one  who  was  held  in  such  high  repute  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
But  in  1744  an  event  occurred  which  entirely  ruptured  the 
happy  relations  previously  existing  between  the  minister  and 
the  people,  and  which  six  years  after  resulted  in  their  separation. 
Being  informed  that  certain  young  persons,  members  of  the 
church,  had  in  their  possession  books  of  an  immoral  and  cor- 
rupting tendency,  which  they  made  use  of  to  promote  improper 
conversation  and  conduct,  Mr.  Edwards  preached  a  sermon  to 
indicate  the  duty  of  the  church  in  reference  to  matters  of  this 
kind;  and 

"  After  the  sermon  he  desired  the  brethren  of  the  church  to  stop,  told  them  what 
information  he  had  received,  and  put  the  question  to  them  in  form,  Whether  the 
Church,  on  the  evidence  before  them,  thought  proper  to  take  any  measures  to  ex- 
amine into  the  matter  ?  The  members  of  the  Church  with  one  consent  and  with 
much  zeal  manifested  it  to  be  their  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  inquired  into;  and 
proceeded  to  choose  a  Committee  of  Inquiry  to  assist  their  pastor  in  examining  into 
the  affair.  After  this  Mr.  Edwards  appointed  the  time  for  the  Committee  of  the 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.         1%l 

Church  to  meet  at  his  house ;  and  then  read  to  the  Church  a  catalogue  of  the  names 
of  the  young  persons  whom  he  desired  to  come  to  his  house  at  the  the  same  time. 
Some  of  those  whose  names  were  thus  read  were  the  persons  accused,  and  some 
were  witnesses ;  but,  through  mere  forgetfulness  or  inadvertence  on  his  part,  he  did 
not  state  to  the  church  in  which  of  these  two  classes  any  particular  individual 
was  included,  or  in  what  character  he  was  requested  to  meet  the  Committee, 
whether  as  one  of  the  accused  or  as  a  witness." 

The  above  extract  is  taken  from  the  299th  page  of  Dr.  S.  E. 
Dvvight's  "  Life  of  President  Edwards,"  and  was  probably  taken 
by  him  from  Dr.  Hopkins's  "  Life  of  Edwards,"  which  was  the 
basis  of  his  own  account  of  President  Edwards's  life  and  labors. 
Only  in  this  way  can  we  reconcile  what  is  said  in  this  extract 
with  what  his  biographer  says  on  pages  432  and  433 : 

"  The  manner  in  which  Mr.  Edwards  invited  the  young  people  to  meet  the  Com- 
mittee, without  distinguishing  the  witnesses  from  the  accused,  whether  a  matter  of 
inadvertence  on  his  part  or  not,  was  the  very  manner  in  which  most  other  persons 
would  have  given  the  invitation ;  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  was  the  only  manner 
which  propriety  could  have  justified." 

We  incline,  however,  to  the  opinion  that  the  biographer's 
ideas  of  justice  must  have  been  somewhat  confused  when  he 
observes,  as  the  ground  of  his  own  judgment  in  the  matter, 

"  As  therefore  both  the  accused  and  the  witnesses  must  be  present  before  the 
Committee,  justice  as  well  as  kindness  demanded  that  they  should  be  named  with- 
out discrimination." 

This  may  have  been  kindness  to  the  accused,  but  surely  it 
was  neither  kindness  nor  justice  to  those  who  were  merely  to 
give  testimony  in  the  case,  and  who  were  in  no  way  implicated 
in  the  charges  to  be  investigated.  The  best  excuse  that  can  be 
made  for  the  course  pursued  is  the  one  suggested  in  the  first 
of  the  above  extracts,  that  it  was  the  result  of  forgetfulness  or 
inadvertence.  And  no  one  at  this  day  need  be  surprised  at 
the  excitement  produced  throughout  the  entire  community  at 
Northampton  by  the  manner  in  which  this  whole  business  was 
conducted.  For  while,  on  the  one  hand,  it  furnishes  a  noted 
instance  of  Mr.  Edwards's  faithfulness  and  fearlessness  in  the 
discharge  of  duty,  with  the  full  conviction  that  it  would  be  to 
him  the  occasion  of  many  and  bitter  trials,  and  of  his  ability 
to  rise  above  all  personal  considerations  in  all  matters  wherein 


!82        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  purity  and  welfare  of  the  Church  of  Christ  were  concerned, 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  as  clearly  shows  a  lack  of  practical 
wisdom  in  dealing  with  the  errors  and  prejudices  of  those  over 
whose  spiritual  interests  he  was  called  to  watch.  The  alleged 
facts  were  not  a  matter  of  notoriety ;  they  were  evidently  un- 
known to  the  community  at  large ;  and  the  first  thing  that 
brought  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  people  generally  was  his 
discourse  on  this  subject.  Had  he  instituted  a  private  investi- 
gation, and,  having  satisfied  himself  as  to  the  guilty  parties, 
dealt  with  them  individually  and  tenderly,  showing  them  their 
sin  and  their  danger,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  his  labors 
would  not  have  been  without  a  happy  result.  In  cases  in  which 
the  parties  were  insensible  to  his  urgent  and  affectionate  appeals, 
had  he  called  to  his  aid  the  counsels  and  entreaties,  and  even 
the  authority,  of  the  parents  of  the  erring  youth,  he  might  have 
reclaimed  some  of  them;  and  not  until  all  other  methods  had 
failed  should  he  have  resorted  to  this  announcement  of  their 
offence,  and  to  the  exercise  of  discipline  by  the  entire  church. 
Again,  notices  might  have  been  sent  privately  to  each  indi- 
vidual whose  presence  was  desired  by  the  pastor  or  the  com- 
mittee, without  any  public  mention  of  names.  If  this  view  of 
the  case  be  a  correct  one,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  the  whole 
community  became  so  much  excited,  and  that  the  people  are 
not  entitled  to  all  the  blame  in  regard  to  this  unhappy  affair, 
which  had  so  much  to  do  in  the  alienating  of  their  affections 
from  their  minister. 

The  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  proceed  with  the  pro- 
posed investigation,  upon  the  discovery  made  by  them  that 
large  numbers  of  their  children  were  more  or  less  implicated  in 
the  alleged  offence,  not  only  aroused  their  feelings  against  their 
minister,  but  as  naturally  led  the  minister  to  ascribe  their  con- 
duct to  a  want  of  a  proper  zeal  for  the  honor  of  Christ  and  the 
purity  of  the  Church.  Hence  doubts,  which  had  already  ex- 
isted in  his  mind  as  to  the  propriety  of  receiving  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  church  any  persons  who  did  not  give  satisfactory 
evidence  of  being  truly  converted,  ripened  into  a  full  conviction 
that  none  but  regenerate  persons  ought  to  partake  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  For  many  years,  under  the  advice  and  teachings  of 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.         ^ 

his  grandfather,  a  different  course  had  been  pursued,  and  all 
baptized  persons,  who  were  fully  and  correctly  instructed  as  to 
the  plan  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  who 
professed  to  receive  it  as  such,  and  who  were  free  from  all  scan- 
dal, were  taught  that  it  was  their  duty  and  privilege  to  come  to 
the  Lord's  table,  notwithstanding  any  doubts  they  might  have 
in  regard  to  themselves  as  regenerate  persons,  and  even  if  they 
had  reason  to  believe  they  were  not  regenerated.  This  view  of 
the  case  had  been  discussed  and  defended  by  Mr.  Stoddard, 
and  was  zealously  maintained  by  the  churches  in  Hampshire 
County.  Mr.  Edwards,  having  satisfied  his  own  mind  that  this 
method  was  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  resolutely 
set  himself  to  work  to  bring  about  a  change  in  the  practice  of 
the  church  of  which  he  was  pastor.  His  effort  in  this  direc- 
tion was  not  successful,  and  he  was  finally  dismissed  from 
his  charge  by  a  council  of  ministers  and  delegates  from  the 
neighboring  churches  called  by  himself  and  the  church  at 
Northampton. 

The  opinion  embraced  by  Mr.  Edwards  on  this  subject  did 
not  originate  with  him,  but  was  held  quite  generally  by  the 
churches  of  New  England  at  its  first  settlement;  but  no  advo- 
cate of  this  opinion  has  exerted  so  much  influence  as  President 
Edwards  in  the  maintenance  and  propagation  of  it,  both  in 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  churches.  This  is  not  the 
time,  nor  is  it  the  place,  to  discuss  the  correctness  or  the  error 
of  an  opinion  which  had  so  important  a  bearing  upon  some 
of  the  leading  events  in  the  life  of  President  Edwards,  but  it 
cannot  be  improper,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  his  views  on 
this  subject  were  not  the  views  held  by  his  predecessors,  Presi- 
dents Dickinson  and  Burr,  nor  are  they  in  accord  with  the 
teachings  of  the  "  Directory  for  Worship"  set  forth  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country.*  The  Rev.  John  Blair, 
Vice-President  of  the  College,  and  its  first  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  and  Divinity,  from  1767  to  1769,  published,  in  1771, 
"  An  Essay  on  the  Nature,  Uses,  and  Subjects  of  the  Sacra- 

*  See  "  Directory  for  Worship,"  and  "  Christian  Advocate,"  vol.  x.,  edited  by 
President  Green,  or  Dr.  Sprague's  "  Annals,"  vol.  iii.,  article  Rev.  Jacob  Green. 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ments  of  the  New  Testament,"  in  which  he  maintains  and  de- 
fends views  opposite  to  those  of  President  Edwards.  Mr.  Blair's 
discussion  of  the  matters  handled  by  him  is  very  calm  and  very 
able,  and  well  worthy  of  a  perusal  by  those  who  are  seeking 
light  in  regard  to  these  matters.  A  careful  comparison  of  the 
views  of  President  Edwards  and  of  Vice-President  Blair  may 
serve  to  elicit  the  exact  truth  more  fully  and  clearly. 

After  the  dissolution  of  his  pastoral  charge  Mr.  Edwards 
remained  for  about  a  year  at  Northampton,  but  upon  an  invita- 
tion to  take  charge  of  the  church  at  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts, 
and  also  of  the  Indian  mission  there  established,  he  removed  to 
that  village,  and  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  his  studies  and 
his  ministerial  and  missionary  labors.  Here  he  rendered  most 
valuable  services  to  the  Indian  mission,  and  also  to  the  cause 
of  learning.  He  was  not  free  altogether  from  trials  in  this 
chosen  retreat;  but  the  same  firmness  and  fidelity  which  had 
always  characterized  him  were  manifested  by  him  in  his  efforts 
in  behalf  of  the  Indians,  and  a  greater  degree  than  usual  of 
prudence  marked  his  course  towards  those  with  whom  he  was 
brought  into  collision;  and,  the  Lord  favoring  his  faithful  efforts, 
he  was  successful  in  defending  the  interests  of  the  Indians 
against  the  machinations  of  sundry  individuals,  whose  aim 
seemed  to  be  their  own  aggrandizement  at  the  expense  of  the 
youths  sent  to  the  mission-schools  to  be  educated. 

At  Stockbridge  Mr.  Edwards  wrote  his  famous  work  on  the 
"  Will,"  which  added  so  much  to  his  already  great  reputation, 
and  gave  him  rank  among  the  first  philosophers  of  his  age. 
He  resided  at  Stockbridge  for  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
time,  upon  the  death  of  his  son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr, 
President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  he  was  chosen  his  suc- 
cessor; and,  as  narrated  in  the  account  given  of  his  short  ad- 
ministration, he  with  much  hesitation  and  misgiving  accepted 
this  appointment,  so  honorable  to  himself  and  to  the  institution 
over  which  he  was  called  to  preside. 

His  letter  of  October  19,  1757,  in  reply  to  the  one  from  the 
Trustees  of  the  College  apprising  him  of  his  election,  shows 
that  his  modesty  was  equal  to  his  great  intellectual  endow- 
ments; and  this  letter,  from  which  some  extracts  have  been 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.         ^5 

given,  is  in  every  respect  worthy  of  its  author.  His  aim  seems 
to  be  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  Trustees  for  a  refusal  of  their 
offer,  although  he  highly  appreciated  the  honor  they  had  done 
him  in  choosing  him  to  be  the  head  of  their  important  institu- 
tion. In  this  letter  he  sets  forth  his  reasons  for  thinking  that 
he  is  not  the  person  for  such  a  station.  Still,  he  deemed  it  his 
duty  to  submit  the  question  of  his  acceptance  to  a  council  of 
his  clerical  brethren ;  and  this  he  did,  with  a  pretty  clear  intima- 
tion, however,  of  his  doubts,  if  not  of  his  preferences.  Having 
received  their  judgment,  which  was  in  favor  of  his  going  to 
Princeton,  he  yielded,  and  reluctantly  gave  up  his  church  and 
missionary  work  at  Stockbridge  to  devote  himself  to  the  train- 
ing of  youth  for  the  service  of  the  Church  in  the  gospel  min- 
istry, and  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  in  the  different  professions 
and  employments. 

As  before  mentioned,  he  reached  Princeton  in  the  latter  part 
of  January,  and  took  the  oath  of  office  on  the  1 6th  of  February, 
1758.  On  the  23d  of  the  same  month,  by  the  advice  of  phy- 
sician and  friends,  he  was  inoculated  for  the  smallpox,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  general  prevalence  of  this  disease.  A  young 
but  skilful  physician  from  Philadelphia,  Dr.  William  Shippen, 
came  to  Princeton  to  inoculate  him  and  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Burr,  and  her  two  children;  and  after  a  most  serious  and  de- 
liberate consultation  with  certain  friends  they  were  all  inocu- 
lated,* and  for  a  time  they  all  apparently  were  doing  well;  but, 
according  to  the  statement  of  Dr.  Shippen  in  his  letter  to  Mrs. 
Edwards  informing  her  of  the  death  of  President  Edwards,  it 
appears  that 

"  Although  he  had  the  smallpox  favorably,  yet  having  a  number  of  them  in  the 
roof  of  his  mouth  and  throat,  he  could  not  possibly  swallow  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  drink  to  keep  off  a  secondary  fever,  which  has  proved  too  strong  for  his  feeble 
frame;  and  this  afternoon  [March  22],  between  two  and  three  o'clock,  it  pleased 
God  to  let  him  sleep  in  that  dear  Lord  Jesus  whose  kingdom  and  interest  he  has 
been  faithfully  and  painfully  serving  all  his  life."  Dr.  Shippen  adds,  "  And 
never  did  any  mortal  man  more  fully  and  clearly  evidence  the  sincerity  of  all  his 
professions,  by  one  continued,  universal,  calm,  cheerful  resignation,  and  patient 
submission  to  the  divine  will,  through  every  stage  of  his  disease,  than  he :  not 

*  It  is  said  that  he  was  inoculated  with  the  consent  of  the  Trustees,  but  upon 
what  authority  I  know  not.     The  minutes  of  the  Board  make  no  reference  to  it. 
vol..  I.— 13 


HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

so  much  as  one  discontented  expression,  nor  the  least  appearance  of  murmuring 
through  the  whole.  And  never  did  any  person  expire  with  more  perfect  freedom 
from  pain, — not  so  much  as  distorted  hair, — but,  in  the  most  proper  sense  of  the 
words,  he  fell  asleep.  Death  had  certainly  lost  his  sting  as  to  him."* 

After  he  was  sensible  that  he  could  not  survive  that  sickness, 
a  little  before  his  death  he  called  his  daughterf  to  him,  who 
attended  in  his  sickness,  and  addressed  her  in  a  few  words, 
which  were  immediately  taken  down  in  writing  as  nearly  as 
could  be  recollected,  and  are  as  follows : 

"  Dear  Lucy,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  will  of  God  that  I  must  shortly  leave  you  ; 
therefore  give,  my  kindest  love  to  my  dear  wife,  and  tell  her  that  the  uncommon 
union,  which  has  so  long  subsisted  between  us,  has  been  of  such  a  nature  as  I  trust 
is  spiritual,  and  will  therefore  continue  forever;  and  I  hope  she  will  be  supported 
under  so  great  a  trial,  and  submit  cheerfully  to  the  will  of  God.  And  as  to  my 
children,  you  are  now  like  to  be  left  fatherless;  which  I  hope  will  be  an  induce- 
ment for  you  all  to  seek  a  Father  who  will  never  fail  you.  And  as  to  my  funeral, 
I  would  have  it  to  be  like  Mr.  Burr's ;  J  and  any  additional  sum  of  money  that 
might  be  expected  to  be  laid  out  that  way,  I  would  have  it  disposed  of  to  charitable 
uses." 

"  He  said  very  little  in  his  sickness,  but  was  an  admirable  in- 
stance of  patience  and  resignation  to  the  last.  Just  at  the  close 
of  life,  as  some  persons,  who  stood  by  expecting  he  would 
breathe  his  last  in  a  few  minutes,  were  lamenting  his  death, 
not  only  as  a  great  frown  upon  the  College,  but  as  having  a 
dark  aspect  upon  the  interest  of  religion  in  general,  to  their 
surprise,  not  imagining  he  heard  or  that  he  would  ever  speak 
another  word,  he  said,  'Trust  in  God,  and  ye  need  not  fear.' 
These  were  his  last  words."  (Dwight's  "  Life.") 

The  Trustees  caused  a  marble  monument  to  be  erected  in 
honor  of  President  Edwards.  On  this  monument  was  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : 

M.  S. 

Reverend!  admodum  Viri, 

Jonathan  Edwards,  A.M., 

Collegii  Novae  Caesarise  Prsesidis, 

Natus  apud  Windsor  Connecticutensium  V  Octobris, 

A.D.  MDCCIIL  S.  V. 

*  See  Dwight's  "  Life,"  page  870. 

f  His  eldest  unmarried  daughter. 

\  See  notice  of  Mr.  Burr's  funeral,  page  166. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS.         i%j 

Patre  Reverenclo  Timotheo  Edwards  oriundus, 

Collegio  Yalensi  educatus ; 
Apud  Northampton  Sacris  initiatus,  XV  Februarii 

MDCCXXVI-VII. 

Illinc  dimissus  XXII  Junii  MDCCL, 

Et  Munus  Barbaros  instituendi  accepit. 

Praeses  Aulae  Nassovicse  creatus  XVI  Februarii 

MDCCLVIII. 

Defunctus  in  hoc  Vico  XXII  Martii  sequentis,  S.  N. 
Aetatis  LV,  heu  nimis  brevis ! 

Hie  jacel  mortalis  Pars. 

Qualis  Persona  quoeris,  Viator  ? 

Vir  corpora  proeero,  sed  gracili, 

Studiis  intentissimis,  Abstinentia,  et  Sedulitate, 

Attenuate, 
Ingenii  Acumine,  Judicio  acri,  et  Prudentia, 

Secundus  Nemini  Mortalium. 
Artium  liberalium  et  Scientiarum  Peritia  insignis, 
Criticorum  sacrorum  optimus,  Theologus  eximius, 

Ut  vix  alter  sequalis :  Disputator  candidus ; 

Fidei  Christianae  Propugnator  validus  et  invictus  ; 

Concionator  gravis,  serius,  discriminans ; 

Et,  Deo  favente,  Successu 

Felicissimus. 

Pietate  pneclarus,  Moribus  suis  severus, 

Ast  aliis  aequus  et  benignus, 

Vixit  dilectus,  veneratus — 

Sed  ah !  lugendus 

Moriebatur, 

Quantos  Gemitus  discedens  ciebat ! 

Heu  Sapientia  tanta !  heu  Doctrina  et  Religio ! 

Amissum  plorat  Collegium,  plorat  Ecclesia; 

At,  eo  recepto,  gaudet 

Ccelum. 
Abi  Viator,  et  pia  sequere  Vestigia. 

Mrs.  Edwards  did  not  long  survive  her  husband.  In  Septem- 
ber she  set  out,  in  her  usual  health,  for  Philadelphia,  to  bring 
to  Stockbridge  the  two  orphan  children  of  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Burr.  Upon  the  death  of  Mrs.  Burr,  which  occurred  a  few 
weeks  after  her  father's  death,  these  children,  a  daughter  and  a 
son,  had  been  taken  care  of  by  some  friends,  and  they  were  in 
Philadelphia  at  the  time  of  Mrs.  Edwards's  visit  to  that  city. 
She  arrived  there  on  the  2 1st  of  September,  and  within  a  few 
days  she  was  seized  with  a  dysentery,  from  which  she  died  on 


!88        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  2<d  of  October,  1758,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  her  age, 
after  an  illness  of  five  days.  She  suffered  intensely,  but  died  in 
perfect  peace.  Her  remains  were  taken  to  Princeton,  and  were 
buried  by  those  of  her  husband. 

Mrs.  Edwards  was  a  remarkable  woman,  distinguished  for 
her  personal  charms,  her  great  intelligence,  and  her  early  and 
fervent  piety,  and  also  for  her  wise  and  economical  manage- 
ment of  her  family  affairs,  setting  her  children  an  example 
worthy  of  their  admiration  and  imitation,  in  her  diligent  atten- 
tion to  the  affairs  of  her  household,  and  in  her  unceasing 
efforts  to  train  her  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord. 

Mrs.  Edwards  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  of 
New  Haven,  and  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Edwards  on  the  28th 
of  July,  1727.  She  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children,  three 
sons  and  eight  daughters.  Two  of  her  daughters  died  young 
and  unmarried;  the  other  children  all  grew  up  and  were  mar- 
ried, and  their  descendants  are  very  numerous,  and  some  of 
them  are  among  the  most  eminent  in  their  respective  callings. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  published  works  of  President 
Edwards,  taken  from  Dr.  Sprague's  sketch  of  his  life. 

1731.     A  sermon,  "  God  glorified  in  Man's  Dependence." 

1734.  A  sermon,  "A  Divine  and  Supernatural  Light  imparted  to  the  Soul  by 
the  Spirit  of  God." 

1735.  A  sermon,  "  Curse  ye  Meroz." 

1736.  "A  Faithful  Narrative  of  the  Surprising  Work  of  God,  in  the  Conversion 
of  many  Hundred  Souls  in  Northampton,"  etc.     (London.) 

1738.     Five  Discourses,  prefixed  to  the  American  edition  of  the  preceding. 
1741.     A  sermon,  "  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry  God." 
1741.     A  sermon,  "Sorrows   of   the    Bereaved   spread   before   Jesus,"   at  the 
funeral  of  the  Rev.  William  Williams. 

1741.  A   sermon,  "Distinguishing   Marks  of  a  Work  of   the  True  Spirit," 
preached  at  New  Haven. 

1742.  "Thoughts  on  the  Revival  in  New  England  in  1740." 

1743.  A  sermon,  "The  Watchman's  Duty  and  Account,"  at  the  ordination  of 
the  Rev.  Jonathan  Judd,  of  Southampton,  Massachusetts. 

1744.  A  sermon,  "The  True  Excellency  of  a  Gospel  Minister,"  preached  at 
the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Abercrombie,  of  Pelham,  Massachusetts. 

1746.     A  treatise  concerning  Religious  Affections.     (Printed  at  Boston.) 
1746.     "An  Humble  Attempt  to  promote  Explicit,  Agreeable,  and  Visible  Union 
among  God's  People  in  Extraordinary  Prayer." 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.    JONATHAN  EDWARDS. 

1747.  A  sermon,  "True  Saints,  when  Absent  from  the  Body,  Present  with  the 
Lord,"  preached  at  the  funeral  of  the  Rev.  David  Brainerd. 

1748.  A  sermon,  "God's  Awful  Judgments  in  breaking  the  Strong  Rods  of 
the  Community,"  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Colonel  John  Stoddard. 

1749.  "  Life  and  Diary  of  the  Rev.  David  Brainerd." 

1749.  A  sermon,  "Christ  the  Example  of  Gospel  Ministers,"  preached  at  the 
ordination  of  the  Rev.  Job  Strong. 

1749.  "  Qualifications  for  Full  Communion  in  the  Visible  Church." 

1750.  "  Farewell  Sermon  to  the  People  of  Northampton." 

1752.  "  Misrepresentation  Corrected  and  Truth  Vindicated,  in  a  Reply  to  Mr. 
Solomon  Williams'  Book  on  '  Qualifications  for  Communion ;'  to  which  is  added 
a  Letter  from  Mr.  Edwards  to  His  Late  Flock  at  Northampton." 

1752.  A  sermon,  "True  Grace  distinguished  from  the  Experience  of  Devils," 
preached  before  the  Synod  of  New  York,  at  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

1754.  "  Inquiry  into  Freedom  of  the  Will." 

1758.  "  The  Doctrine  of  Original  Sin  defended." 

1765.  Eighteen  Sermons  annexed  to  the  "  Life  of  Edwards"  by  Dr.  Hopkins. 

1777.  "  The  History  of  Redemption."     (Edinburgh.) 

1788.  "  Nature  of  True  Virtue." 

1788.  "  God's  Last  End  in  Creation." 

1788.  Practical  Sermons.     (Edinburgh.) 

1789.  Twenty  Sermons.     (Edinburgh.) 

1793.  "Miscellaneous  Observations  on  Important  Theological  Subjects.'' 
(Edinburgh.) 

1796.     "Remarks  on  Important  Theological  Controversies."     (Edinburgh.) 
1829.     "  Types  of  the  Messiah." 
1829.     "  Notes  on  the  Bible." 
1852.     "  Charity  and  its  Fruits." 

The  most  complete  collection  of  his  published  works  and 
correspondence  is  the  one  edited  by  his  great-grandson,  Rev. 
Dr.  Sereno  E.  Dwight,  in  ten  volumes,  inclusive  of  the  one 
containing  his  life.  These  volumes  furnish  evidence  of  his 
untiring  industry  and  of  his  rarely  equalled  power  of  thought. 
The  correctness  of  his  opinions  on  various  subjects  may  be 
questioned,  but  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  ability  with 
which  they  are  maintained  and  defended.  And  no  theological 
writer  of  the  last  century  exerted  a  more  powerful  influence  in 
moulding  the  opinions  of  those  who  hold  sentiments  commonly 
designated  evangelical.  Such  a  master-spirit  as  Dr.  Chalmers 
expresses  in  the  following  words  his  own  appreciation  of  Ed- 
wards as  a  theologian : 

"  I  have  long  esteemed  him  as  the  greatest  of  theologians,  combining  in  a  degree 
that  is  quite  unexampled  the  profoundly  intellectual  with  the  devotedly  spiritual 


I  OX)        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  sacred,  and  realizing  in  his  own  person  a  most  rare  yet  most  beautiful  harmony 
between  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  pastor  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other 
all  the  strength  and  prowess  of  a  giant  in  philosophy ;  so  as  at  once  to  minister, 
from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  and  with  the  most  blessed  effect,  to  the  hearers  of  his 
plain  congregation,  and  yet  in  the  high  field  of  authorship  to  have  traversed,  in  a 
way  that  none  had  ever  done  before  him,  the  most  inaccessible  places,  and  such  a 
mastery  as  never  till  his  time  had  been  realized  over  the  most  arduous  difficulties 
of  our  science. 

"  There  is  no  European  divine  to  whom  I  make  such  frequent  appeals  in  my 
class-rooms  as  I  do  to  Edwards.  No  book  of  human  composition  which  I  more 
strenuously  recommend  than  his  '  Treatise  on  the  Will,' — read  by  me  forty-seven 
years  ago,  with  a  conviction  which  has  never  since  faltered,  and  which  has  helped 
me,  more  than  any  other  uninspired  book,  to  find  my  way  through  all  that  might 
otherwise  have  proved  baffling  and  transcendental  and  mysterious  in  the  peculiari- 
ties of  Calvinism."  (Extract  from  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stebbins,  of  Northamp- 
ton, given  in  Dr.  Sprague's  Sketch  of  President  Edwards,  and  the  sentiments 
of  which  Dr.  Sprague  says  Dr.  Chalmers  expressed  to  him  in  a  private  conversa- 
tion.) 

It  does  not,  however,  follow  from  all  this  that  no  false  posi- 
tions are  assumed  in  the  writings  of  President  Edwards,  or  that 
he  never  gives  utterance  to  forms  of  thought  which  if  carried  to 
their  logical  conclusion  would  lead  to  serious  error.  Nor  does 
it  follow  that  his  exhibition  of  the  religious  affections  and  men- 
tal exercises  connected  with  true  conversion  is  in  all  cases  to  be 
taken,  without  any  doubt  or  question,  as  being  the  actual  and 
invariable  experience  of  all  persons  truly  regenerate.* 


*  President  Edwards  was  a  man  of  eminent  piety,  as  well  as  a  man  well  versed 
in  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and  the  experiences  of  godly  minds;  still,  there  seems 
to  be  in  some  of  his  writings  too  much  insisting  upon  a  settled  order  and  a  certain 
degree  of  inward  experiences  as  essential  to  true  conversion,  more  likely  in  some 
cases  to  hinder  than  to  aid  the  inquirer  in  coming  to  a  right  decision  in  regard  to 
himself. 

Doddridge's  famous  work  on  the  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul" 
is  a  work  of  this  description,  and  while  in  many  cases  it  has  done  great  good,  there 
are  others  in  which  to  a  tender  conscience  it  has  proved  a  real  hindrance  to  its 
spiritual  advancement  and  growth  in  grace.  The  type  of  piety  produced  under 
this  procrustean  treatment,  while  sometimes  both  genuine  and  beautiful,  and  by 
consequence  lovely,  and  ever  bowing  with  unfeigned  submission  to  the  sovereign 
will  of  God,  often  lacks  that  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  that  exuberant  joyfulness, 
which  it  should  be  the  aim  of  every  redeemed  soul  to  have  and  to  keep  as  pertain- 
ing to  the  privileges  purchased  and  made  over  to  it  by  its  beloved  Saviour,  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God.  Such  a  work  as  Edwards's  on  the  "  Religious  Affections" 
was  perhaps  better  adapted  to  the  state  of  things  in  his  day  than  it  is  in  ours;  and 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JONATHAN  EDWARDS,         l^l 

yet  this  great  work  may  be  read  and  studied  with  the  greatest  profit  by  all  who  are 
desirous  to  distinguish  true  religious  affections  from  those  which  are  false,  if  they 
will  bear  in  mind  that  while  persons  truly  converted  may  be  conscious  of  possess- 
ing all  the  views  and  feelings  therein  described,  yet  that  such  consciousness  is  not 
essential  to  vital  piety.  While  they  find  in  themselves  those  great  distinguishing 
marks  of  true  conversion,  love  to  God,  and  love  to  man,  with  a  humble  trust  in 
the  righteousness  and  intercession  of  their  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
ground  of  their  hope,  and  of  their  acceptance  with  God,  they  need  not  be  con- 
cerned at  the  discovery  that  they  possess  not  some  of  those  experiences  which  are 
insisted  upon  by  writers  on  Experimental  Religion. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  INTERVAL  BETWEEN  THE  DECEASE  OF  PRESIDENT  EDWARDS 
AND  THE  INAUGURATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  DAVIES  AS  PRESI- 
DENT OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

MR.  EDWARDS  died  on  the  22d  of  March,  and  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  took  place  on  Wednesday,  the  I9th  of  April, 
1758,  the  instruction  of  the  classes  in  this  interval  being  con- 
ducted by  the  Tutors,  Messrs.  Ewing  and  Halsey. 

Exclusive  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  the  President 
of  the  College,  the  Board  of  Trustees  consisted  of  twenty-one 
members;  and  of  these,  eleven  were  clergymen  and  ten  laymen. 
On  this  occasion  all  the  clerical  members  were  present,  and 
only  three  of  the  lay  members. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  minutes  at  this  meeting: 

"  The  Trustees  met  according  to  appointment  at  Nassau  Hall,  on  Wednesday,  the 
igth  day  of  April,  A.D.  1758. 

"  Present, — William  P.  Smith  and  Samuel  Woodruff,  Esqrs. ;  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent,  David  Cowell,  Richard  Treat,  Timothy  Johnes, 
Jacob  Green,  John  Pierson,  Samuel  Finley,  Caleb  Smith,  John  Brainerd,  Charles 
McKnight,  and  Richard  Stockton.  [Mr.  Stockton  was  Clerk  of  the  Board.]  The 
Clerk  certified  that  he  had  duly  notified  each  member  of  this  present  meeting. 

"  The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  ordered  to  be  read.  It  is  ordered,  that 
Messrs.  Treat,  Cowell,  and  Stockton,  or  any  two  of  them,  be  a  committee  to  ascer- 
tain the  sum  of  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  which  was  given  in  Trust  for 
the  Benefit  of  poor  Scholars,  and  make  Report  thereof  to  the  next  meeting. 

"  Messrs.  Green,  Brainerd,  and  Smith,  appointed  the  last  meeting  to  inspect  the 
College  Fund  and  settle  the  accounts  with  the  Treasurer,  having  not  finished  the 
said  affair,  it  is  ordered,  that  they  make  report  of  the  Business,  and  also  the  state  of 
the  Expenses  for  the  current  year,  to  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  at  the  next  Com- 
mencement. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  the  Tuition  money  and  Study  Rent  until  the  next  Commence- 
ment be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Steward  of  the  College,  and  that  he  pay  the 
same  unto  the  Treasurer. 

"  It  having  pleased  God  to  remove  by  Death  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Edwards,  President 
of  the  College,  a  few  weeks  after  he  had  taken  upon  him  the  Charge  of  the  Col- 
192 


REV.   JAMES  LOCKWOOD  ELECTED  PRESIDENT.       jgj 

lege ;  It  is  ordered,  that  the  Treasurer  pay  unto  the  Executors  of  the  said  Mr. 
Edwards  the  sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds,  being  the  one-half  of  his  salary  for  one 
year,  which  he  had  a  right  to  receive  at  the  end  of  six  months  after  the  last  Com- 
mencement ;  the  said  six  months  being  unexpired  notwithstanding. 

"  The  Presidentship  of  the  College  having  become  vacant  by  the  Death  of  the 
late  Rev.  President  Edwards,  the  Trustees,  after  Prayer  particularly  on  this  account 
being  made,  and  having  taken  deliberate  consideration  of  the  matter,  do  elect  the 
Rev.  Mr.  James  Lockwood,  of  Wethersfield,  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  to  be 
the  President  of  the  College ;  and  the  Clerk  is  ordered  to  write  a  Letter  unto  the 
said  Mr.  Lockwood  informing  him  of  the  said  Election  and  requesting  his  accept- 
ance; and  Mr.  Spencer,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Corporation,  is  desired  to  wait 
on  the  said  Mr.  Lockwood  and  deliver  him  the  said  Letter. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  the  Expenses  attending  the  moving  of  Mr.  Lockwood's  Family 
to  this  Place  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  Messrs.  William  P.  Smith,  Woodruff,  Pierson,  Johnes,  Green, 
Caleb  Smith,  and  Brainerd,  or  any  four  of  them,  be  a  Committee  to  transact  the 
affair  of  Mr.  Lockwood's  Removal. 

"  The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  is  appointed  President  of  this  College  until  the  next 
Trustee  meeting;  and  the  said  appointment  being  made  known  to  the  said  Mr. 
Smith,  he  was  pleased  to  accept  the  same,  and  was  qualified  as  the  Charter  directs. 

"  Mr.  McWhorter,  who  was  heretofore  appointed  an  Usher  in  the  Grammar 
School,  not  having  accepted  the  same,  and  Mr.  Strain  having  at  the  request  of  the 
Board  for  some  time  performed  the  said  Business,  and  being  willing  to  continue 
therein ;  It  is  ordered,  that  the  said  Mr.  Strain  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  ,£40  per 
annum  for  the  Time  he  has  acted,  and  shall  act  as  Usher  in  the  said  school. 

"  The  Board  adjourned  until  7  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

"  2d  Day,  7  o'clock.     The  Trustees  met  according  to  adjournment. 

"  Present  as  before. 

"  The  Rev.  Samuel  Finley  is  appointed  to  take  upon  himself  the  Charge  of  the 
College  and  act  as  President  thereof  until  the  22d  day  of  May  next,  and  the  said 
Mr.  Finley  was  qualified  as  the  Charter  directs."  No  reason  is  given  for  this  action  of 
the  Board  just  at  the  close  of  their  session.  Only  the  simple  fact  is  a  matter  of  record. 

Here  we  have  a  regularly  elected  President,  viz.,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lockwood,  and  two  acting  Presidents,  chosen  at  the  same 
meeting  of  the  Board.  It  is  obvious  why  a.  pro  tern.  President 
was  chosen  upon  the  election  of  Mr.  Lockwood,  who,  whatever 
might  be  his  decision,  would  not  be  able  at  once  to  take  upon 
himself  the  charge  of  the  College ;  and  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 
Green  in  his  "  Notes"  doubtless  assigns  the  true  reason  why 
Mr.  Finley  was  chosen  to  serve  in  the  office  of  President  for  a 
short  but  definite  period,  and  that,  too,  just  after  Mr.  Smith  had 
been  qualified  to  act  as  President  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Trustees.  Dr.  Green's  suggestion  is  this :  that  Mr.  Smith  find- 
ing he  could  not  attend  to  the  duties  of  the  office  before  the 


IO/4       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

22d  of  May,  Mr.  Finley  was  chosen  to  take  his  place  until  that 
time.  From  the  subsequent  minutes  of  the  Board  it  appears 
that  both  Mr.  Finley  and  Mr.  Smith  took  upon  themselves 
the  oversight  of  the  College  for  the  time  allotted  to  each 
respectively. 

"  The  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  took  place  at  Nassau  Hall,  on  Wednesday,  the 
1 6th  of  August,  A.D.  1758.  There  were  present  His  Excellency  Francis  Bernard, 
Esq.,  the  Hon.  James  Hude,  Esq.,  the  Hon.  Samuel  Woodruff,  Esq.,  William 
P.  Smith,  Esq.,  Peter  V.  B.  Livingston,  Esq.,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Caleb  Smith, 
John  Pierson,  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent,  David  Cowell,  Richard  Treat, 
Samuel  Finley,  Jacob  Green,  Alexander  Gumming,  Charles  McKnight,  and  Richard 
Stockton,  Esq. 

"  The  Clerk  certified  that  he  had  duly  notified  each  member  of  this  present 
meeting. 

"  His  Excellency  Francis  Bernard,  Esq.,  Governor  of  this  Province,  having  been 
pleased  to  attend  the  present  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  was  qualified  as  the  Charter 
directs,  and  took  his  seat  as  President  accordingly. 

"  The  definitive  answer  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lockwood,  of  Wethersfield,  the  Presi- 
dent elect  of  this  College,  was  read ;  by  which  it  fully  appears  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lockwood  had  refused  accepting  the  Presidentship  agreeably  to  the  choice  of  this 
Board ;  whereupon,  after  mature  deliberation,  the  Board  proceeded  to  the  election 
of  a  President  of  the  College,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Davies,  of  Virginia,  was 
duly  elected.  On  which  the  Clerk  is  ordered  as  soon  as  possible  to  communicate 
the  Notice  of  the  said  Election  to  the  said  Mr.  Davies,  and  desire  his  acceptance 
thereof,  and  request  his  answer  as  soon  as  may  be,  and  if  it  suits  Conveniency,  his 
attendance  at  the  next  Commencement.  And  the  Treasurer  is  hereby  ordered  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  removing  Mr.  Davies's  Family  to  this  Place. 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith  is  desired  and  hereby  empowered  to  preside  until  the 
next  Commencement,  and  then  to  give  the  Degrees  to  the  Candidates ;  and  in  case 
of  his  absence,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cowell  or  Cummings  are  hereby  empowered  to  trans- 
act the  said  affair. 

"  The  Board  adjourned  till  8  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

"  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  manage  the  affair  of  Mr.  Davies's  removal  to 
Princeton ;  and  the  same  Committee  was  authorized  to  send  to  England  for  what 
Books  they  may  think  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  College  and  Grammar  School, 
not  exceeding  ^40  sterling ;  also  to  settle  with  Mr.  Robert  Smith  (who  built  the 
President's  house),  and  the  Executor  of  President  Burr,  the  matter  relative  to  the 
surplus  over  and  above  ^£600  for  which  the  said  house  was  to  have  been  built ; 
and  also  to  conclude  about  finishing  the  President's  house  and  College." 

From  this  and  other  minutes  it  appears  that  neither  the  Col- 
lege nor  the  President's  house  was  completely  finished  at  the 
time  they  were  first  occupied. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  George  Duffield,  who  had  served  as  Tutor 
from  1754  to  1/56,  was  chosen  senior  Tutor,  with  the  desire 


RELIGIOUS  SERVICES   ON  THE   SABBATH. 


195 


expressed  by  the  Board  that  he  might  be  permanently  con- 
nected with  the  College.  They  offered  him  one  hundred  pounds 
a  year,  with  a  promise  to  increase  this  salary  as  they  reasonably 
could  should  his  circumstances  require  it.  The  offer  was  not 
accepted. 

There  being  no  regularly  organized  Presbyterian  church  in 
Princeton,  and  no  building  for  regular  religious  services  on 
the  Sabbath,  the  President  of  the  College  for  the  time  being 
preached  regularly  in  the  College  Chapel ;  and  such  residents 
of  the  village  and  vicinity  as  desired  so  to  do  were  permitted 
to  attend  the  services  in  the  College,  and  separate  pews  were 
assigned  to  such  as  were  willing  to  pay  for  the  use  of  them. 
Some  of  the  occupants  of  these  pews  having  neglected  their 
pew-rents,  it  was 

"  Ordered,  That  the  pew-rents  in  the  Hall  for  the  last  year  be  immediately  paid 
unto  the  Steward  of  the  College,  and  on  failure  of  compliance  of  any  Person,  that 
such  Person  forfeit  his  Pew." 

The  tuition-fees  for  a  year  were  increased  from  three  pounds 
to  four  pounds  proclamation  money  :  this  additional  charge, 
however,  was  not  to  be  exacted  of  any  already  in  college,  but 
of  those  who  should  after  this  time  enter  the  Freshman  class. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Finley  was  "  authorized  and  desired  to  amend 
and  prepare  for  the  press  the  Newark  Grammar  with  all  pos- 
sible expedition,  and  to  transmit  the  same  to  the  President 
of  the  College  for  the  time  being."  This  Newark  Grammar 
was  a  Latin  grammar  said  to  have  been  prepared  by  President 
Burr. 

An  order  was  passed,  that  Mr.  Finley  be  paid  ten  pounds  for 
the  time  that  he  inspected  the  government  of  the  College,  and 
that  Mr.  Smith  should  be  paid  for  his  services  forty  pounds. 

From  a  report  made  by  a  committee  appointed  at  the  last 
meeting,  it  appeared  "  that  the  fund  for  poor  scholars  in  the 
Treasurer's  hands"  amounted  to  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
pounds  proc.,  the  interest  to  be  computed  from  October  next; 
and  for  this  sum  the  Trustees  agreed  to  be  accountable  to 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, — the  common  ex- 
pense and  casualties  to  which  their  own  funds  are  liable  being 
excepted. 


HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  The  fund  here  mentioned,"  says  President  Green,*  "  was  formed  by  donations 
obtained  in  England  and  Scotland  by  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  for  the  educa- 
tion of  poor  and  pious  youth  for  the  gospel  ministry.  It  was  loaned  to  the  College, 
and  was  originally  under  the  guardianship  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  but  was  now 
transferred  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  .  .  .  The  fund  here  re- 
ferred to  was  almost  annihilated  by  the  depreciation  of  paper  money  during  the 
Revolutionary  war.  The  interest  arising  on  the  remainder  of  it  is  now  disposed  of 
annually,  for  the  benefit  of  some  student  in  the  College,  by  a  committee  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  a  committee  of  the  Trustees." 

At  a  subsequent  date,  the  selection  of  the  beneficiary  was 
given  up  to  the  College  authorities. 

This  seems  to  be  a  suitable  place  to  say  a  few  words  of  the 
Rev.  James  Lockwood,  who  was  chosen  to  succeed  Mr.  Ed- 
wards in  the  office  of  President  of  the  College,  but  declined  the 
appointment.  "The  reasons  which  induced  Mr.  Lockwood  to 
refuse  the  Presidency,"  says  President  Green,  "  cannot  now  be 
known.  He  was  a  man  of  great  worth  and  high  reputation." 
The  Trustees,  however,  were  not  unanimous  in  his  election. 
This  is  not  apparent  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board ;  but  Mr. 
Davies,  in  writing  on  the  subject  to  his  friend  Dr.  Gibbons,  of 
London,  says,  "The  trustees  were  divided  between  him,  another 
gentleman,  and  myself,  but  I  happily  escaped."  The  other  gen- 
tleman referred  to  was  most  probably  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley, 
who  was  also  named  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  at  the  time 
Mr.  Davies  was  chosen. 

Mr.  Lockwood  must  have  been  a  man  of  much  more  than 
ordinary  merit.  In  1766,  upon  the  resignation  of  President 
Clap,  of  Yale  College,  Mr.  Lockwood  was  chosen  his  suc- 
cessor. But  this  appointment  he  also  declined.  "  The  reason 
given,"  says  Dr.  Sprague,  "for  his  non-acceptance  in  both  cases 
was  his  strong  attachment  to  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  his 
consequent  unwillingness  to  separate  himself  from  them.  He 
continued  their  pastor,  greatly  respected  and  beloved,  till  the 
close  of  life.  He  died  July  20, 1772,  in  the  fifty '-eighth  year  of  his 
age,  and  the  thirty-fourth  of  his  ministry."  He  was  very  friendly 
to  Mr.  Whitefield,  and  countenanced  his  labors  in  the  great  re- 
vival of  1740.  This  circumstance  probably  contributed  to  his 

*  See  his  "  Notes." 


THE   COMMENCEMENT  OF  ///«?.  l^ 

election  as  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Moses  Dickinson,  a  brother  of  Presi- 
dent Dickinson.  Mr.  Lockwood  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
as  were  the  first  three  Presidents  of  this  College,  Messrs.  Dickin- 
son, Burr,  and  Edwards. 

The  Commencement  of  1758  took  place  on  Wednesday  the 
2/th  of  September;  but  the  record  of  this  meeting  is  so  defect- 
ive that  we  have  the  name  of  only  one  of  the  Trustees  present 
on  this  occasion.  Eighteen  candidates  were  admitted  to  the 
first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  seven  received  their  second  degree. 
The  record  is  not  in  the  handwriting  of  the  Clerk,  nor  is  the 
entry  made  at  the  proper  page. 

As  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  was  the  President  pro  tern.,  and  as 
he  had  been  requested  to  preside  at  the  Commencement  exer- 
cises, it  is  most  probable  that  the  degrees  were  conferred  by 
him. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  November  22, 
1758,  there  were  present  fourteen  members, — nine  ministers 
and  five  laymen. 

The  Rev.  George  Duffield  having  declined  the  appointment 
tendered  to  him  by  the  Trustees  at  their  meeting  in  August,  they 
now  elect  Mr.  Joseph  Treat  a  Tutor,  and  order  that  his  salary 
shall  begin  from  the  preceding  Commencement.  From  which 
order  it  is  evident  that  without  a  formal  appointment  he  acted 
as  Tutor,  and  probably  at  the  request  of  some  one  or  more  of 
the  Trustees. 

"  The  Committee  empowered  to  transact  the  affair  of  Mr.  Davies's  removal  having 
produced  his  answer,  and  the  Trustees  having  considered  the  same,  adjudge  that 
the  said  answer  is  final  in  the  Negative." 

The  Board  then  adjourned  until  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning.  There  were 
present  the  same  persons  as  on  the  preceding  day.  They  elected  the  Rey. 
Jacob  Green,  a  member  of  the  Board,  Vice-President  of  the  College,  to  serve 
until  a  President  should  be  chosen ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  his  salary  be  at  the 
rate  of  two  hundred  Pounds  per  annum,  for  the  time  he  shall  serve  in  the  above 
character.  It  was  also  ordered  that  he  should  have  care  and  general  government 
of  the  grammar-school.  Mr.  Green,  accepting  this  appointment,  was  qualified  as 
the  Charter  directed. 

It  was  then  "  ordered,  that  there  be  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  May  next,  principally  designed  for  the  Election  of  a  President  of 
the  College. 


HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  Agreeably  to  this  order,  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  Board  on  Wednesday,  the 
gth  day  of  May,  1759,  thirteen  members  present. 

"  After  acting  upon  a  report  from  the  Referees  appointed  to  settle  the  dispute  be- 
tween the  Executor  of  Mr.  Burr  and  the  Board  about  the  President's  House,  and 
agreeing  to  pay  the  surplus  of  the  £600,  for  which  said  house  was  to  have  been 
built,  the  Board  adjourned  till  2  o'clock  P.M. 

"  At  2  P.M.  the  Trustees  again  met.  His  Excellency  Governor  Bernard  and  three 
other  members  of  the  Board  having  arrived,  there  were  present  in  all  seventeen, 
nine  ministers  and  eight  laymen." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  minutes  at  this  important 
meeting : 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Davies  was  proposed  as  a  Candidate  for  the  Presidency 
of  the  College,  and  admitted,  Nem.  Con. ;  arid  also  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Finley 
was  admitted  a  Candidate  in  the  same  manner. 

"  Whereupon,  after  mature  Deliberation  of  the  Premises,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel 
Davies  was  duly  elected  President  of  this  College,  and  as  this  Society  has  been  so  long 
a  time  destitute  of  a  fixed  President,  and  by  means  thereof  the  former  flourishing 
State  so  greatly  affected,  the  Trustees  desire  and  do  hereby  appoint  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Caleb  Smith,  John  Brainerd,  and  Elihu  Spencer,  of  their  number  (who  design  to 
meet  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  on  next  week),  and  any  other  gentle- 
men of  this  Board  who  shall  be  there,  to  request  the  said  Synod  to  dismiss  the  said 
Mr.  Davies  from  his  pastoral  charge,  that  he  may  be  thereby  enabled  to  accept  of 
the  said  Office. 

"  The  Reverend  Mr.  Green  having  fulfilled  the  term  of  his  former  Election  of 
Vice-President  of  the  College,  he  is  hereby  appointed  to  continue  in  his  said  office 
until  a  fixed  President  can  attend  for  the  service  of  that  Office. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  hereafter  whenever  a  Vacancy  shall  happen  in  the  President- 
ship of  the  College  by  Death  or  otherwise,  that  the  Clerk  with  all  convenient  speed 
convene  Six  of  the  Trustees,  and  by  their  appointment  shall  give  Notice  (declaring 
such  vacancy)  of  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  at  any  Time,  not  less  than  four  months 
accounted  from  the  date  of  said  Notice,  in  Order  for  electing  a  President,  and  that 
all  Notices  thus  given  shall  be  regular  to  all  Intents  and  Purposes. 

"  Mr.  Caleb  Smith  produced  a  Plan  of  Union  among  the  several  Colleges  in  these 
Provinces,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  President  Clap,  of  Yale  College,  in  Connecticut ; 
which,  being  read,  was  referred  for  further  consideration. 

"  It  is  ordered,  that  there  be  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  at  the  next 
Commencement,  and  that  the  members  take  notice  thereof  accordingly." 

Before  the  next  meeting  President  Davies  arrived  at  Prince- 
ton, and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  on  the  26th  of 
July,  although  he  was  not  formally  inducted,  by  the  taking  of 
the  oaths  required  by  the  charter,  until  Wednesday,  the  26th  day 
of  September,  1759. 

From  March  22,  1758,  the  day  on  which  President  Edwards 
died,  until  the  26th  of  July,  1759,  the  day  on  which  President 


ELECTION  OF  PRESIDENT  POSTPONED. 


199 


Davies  entered  upon  his  duties,  the  space  of  an  entire  year  and 
four  months,  the  College  was  without  a  regular  or  permanent 
President;  and  although  the  reverend  gentlemen  who  during 
this  interval  presided  over  the  institution  were  all  well  qualified 
for  their  positions,  yet  the  mere  fact  that  the  College  was  all  this 
time  without  a  permanent  head  was  a  great  drawback  to  its 
prosperity,  and  made  the  Trustees  the  more  anxious  to  secure 
without  further  delay  the  services  of  Mr.  Davies,  when  it  be- 
came known  to  them  that  if  again  elected  he  would  accept  the 
appointment. 

As  mentioned  above,  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  for  the 
meeting  of  Wednesday,  2/th  of  September,  1758,  are  very  de- 
ficient, and  a  full  and  accurate  account  of  the  negotiations  can- 
not be  obtained  from  the  minutes  alone.  Mr.  Davies  was  first 
chosen  President  on  the  i6th  of  August,  1758.  He  referred  the 
question,  whether  he  ought  to  accept  this  appointment,  to  the 
Presbytery,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  they  decided  that 
he  ought  not  to  relinquish  his  pastoral  charge.  He  therefore 
wrote  to  the  Trustees  declining  their  offer.  But  upon  further 
reflection,  fearing  he  might  have  erred  in  deciding  not  to  accept 
the  Presidency,  he  writes  to  the  Rev.  David  Cowell,  most  prob- 
ably in  reply  to  a  letter  from  Mr.  C,  and  authorizes  him,  in  case 
the  Trustees  cannot  agree  upon  Mr.  Finley,  to  place  him  again 
in  nomination  for  the  office  of  President.  Mr.  Cowell  was  a 
Trustee  of  the  College,  and  a  member  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  to  make  provision  for  Mr.  Davies's  re- 
moval to  Princeton. 

On  the  27th  of  September,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commence- 
ment, the  Trustees  must  have  received  notice  of  Mr.  Davies's 
refusal  to  accept  the  office  of  President ;  but  instead  of  proceed- 
ing at  once  to  the  election  of  another  person  to  said  office,  they 
desire  Mr.  Davies  to  consent  to  act  as  Vice-President  of  the 
College  until  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  May  next,  and  to 
refer  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  to  the  Synod  for  its  judg- 
ment. But  this  proposal  Mr.  Davies  declines,  and  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Cowell,  of  the  date  of  October  18,  he  revokes  the  permis- 
sion which  he  had  conditionally  given  Mr.  Cowell  to  nominate 
him  a  second  time  for  the  office  of  President,  and  urges  the 


200        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

choosing  of  Mr.  Finley.  The  Trustees  met  again  on  the  22d 
of  November,  and,  learning  Mr.  Davies's  answer,  after  a  full 
consideration  of  the  subject  they  postponed  the  election  of  a 
President,  and  elected  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green  Vice-President,  to 
preside  until  a  President  be  chosen,  and  then  adjourned,  to 
meet  on  the  9th  of  May  next,  chiefly  for  the  purpose,  as  stated 
in  their  minutes,  of  choosing  a  President  for  the  College. 

In  a  letter  of  the  date  of  December  25,  1758,  Mr.  Cowell 
informs  Mr.  Davies  that  it  is  impossible  to  unite  upon  Mr. 
Finley,  that  there  was  a  bare  quorum  of  the  Trustees  to  receive 
his  second  denial,  that  the  Governor  (Governor  Bernard)  de- 
sired them  not  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  President  at  this 
time,  and  that  they  had  chosen  Mr.  Green  Vice-President  pro  tern. 

It  is  evident  that  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  present  on  this 
occasion  were  not  prepared  to  choose  any  other  person  than 
Mr.  Davies,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  still  hoped  that  he 
might  be  induced  to  accept  the  office  should  it  again  be  tendered 
to  him. 

In  Mr.  Cowell's  correspondence  with  Mr.  Davies,  Mr.  C.  re- 
marks, "  The  College  is  to  be  esteemed  of  as  high  importance 
as  any  institution  in  the  land.  Our  beginning  was  small ;  God 
has  carried  it  on  until  it  is  a  marvel  in  our  eyes." 

From  information  received  from  the  Rev.  John  Ewing,  of 
Nottingham,  Maryland,  and  formerly  a  Tutor  in  the  College, 
Mr.  Cowell,  in  his  letter  of  December  25,  was  led  to  censure 
Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  then  the  senior  Tutor,  for  endeavoring 
to  prevent  Mr.  Davies's  acceptance  of  the  office  of  President. 
But  Mr.  Davies,  in  his  reply  of  March  12,  1757,  fully  exculpates 
Mr.  Halsey;  and  yet  it  is  very  probable  that  the  information 
which  was  given  him  by  Mr.  Halsey,  at  Mr.  Davies's  own  re- 
quest, had  considerable  influence  in  determining  him  to  decline 
the  second  proposal  made  to  him. 

In  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Cowell,  which  took  place  be- 
tween the  two  meetings  of  the  Board,  November  22,  1758,  and 
May  9,  1759,  Mr.  Davies,  while  consenting  on  certain  condi- 
tions that  he  should  again  be  nominated  for  the  Presidency,  ex- 
pressly insists  that  the  first  election,  viz.,  the  one  on  the  i6th  of 
August  preceding,  should  be  regarded  as  null ;  and  that,  if  the 


MR.  DA  VIES  DECLINES   THE  PRESIDENCY.  2OI 

Trustees  still  desired  him  to  accept  the  office,  they  must  elect 
him  again,  and  the  election  be  subject  to  the  consent  and  ap- 
proval of  the  Synod.  To  this  condition  the  Trustees  could 
have  no  objection,  as  they  were  morally  certain  that  the  Synod 
would  give  their  consent,  and  as  they  knew  that  Mr.  Davies 
could  not  give  up  his  pastoral  charge  in  Virginia  unless  the 
Synod  permitted  him  to  do  so. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  two  things  which  more  than 
anything  else  made  Mr.  Davies  hesitate  in  regard  to  accepting 
the  offer  of  the  Trustees,  were  his  unwillingness  to  quit  his  field 
of  labor  in  Virginia  and  his  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  division  in  the  Board  of  Trustees.  A  minority  of  the 
Board  held  with  Mr.  Davies  himself,  that  Mr.  Finley  was  the 
better  qualified  man  for  the  position ;  but  the  majority  believed 
that  Mr.  Davies  was  the  man  for  the  place,  and  they  determined 
to  get  him  if  they  could. 

In  a  letter  of  the  date  of  January  I,  1759,  to  Dr.  Bellamy,  the 
Rev.  David  Bostwick,  of  New  York,  and  subsequently  a  Trustee 
of  the  College,  remarks,  "  Mr.  Davies  sent  an  absolute  refusal, 
grounded  upon  information  that  there  was  a  party  against  him. 
The  Trustees  divided  between  him  and  Mr.  Finley.  And  party 
spirit,  I  fear,  runs  pretty  high.  The  majority  carried  it  that  Mr. 
Davies  should  be  tried  again.  Mr.  Green  is  Vice-President  till 
May."  It  does  not  appear  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board  that 
the  majority  formally  decided  that  Mr.  Davies  should  be  tried 
again;  but  their  action  was  in  accord  with  such  a  purpose.  Mr. 
Davies's  own  account  of  the  matter  is  to  be  found  in  his 
farewell  sermon,  preached  at  Hanover,  Virginia,  on  the  ist  of 
July,  1759,  and  confirms  the  view  here  given,  although  it 
abounds  less  in  details.  (See  Davies's  "  Sermons,"  in  three 
volumes,  published  in  New  York  in  1842.) 

The  officers  and  teachers  of  the  College  during  this  interval 
were,  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  President  pro  tern. ;  Rev.  Samuel 
Finley,  President  pro  tent. ;  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  Vice-President 
pro  tern. ;  Mr.  John  Ewing,  Tutor ;  Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey, 
Tutor  ;  Mr.  Joseph  Treat,  Tutor. 

The  Tutors  were  admirably  qualified  for  their  work,  and 
became  men  of  note. 

vol..  i. — 14 


2Q2        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JEKSEY. 

At  the  Commencement  of  1758,  eighteen  were  admitted  to 
the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  the  same  number  at  the  Com- 
mencement of  1759,  at  the  latter  of  which  Mr.  Davies  presided, 
although  he  had  little  or  nothing  to  do  in  the  instruction  of  the 
candidates. 

Of  the  class  of  1758  were  Peter  R.  Livingston,  chosen,  in 
1776,  President  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  New  York  ;  John 
Van  Brugh  Tennent,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  first  medical 
school  of  New  York,  and  its  first  Professor  of  Obstetrics ;  Rev. 
Wm.  Tennent,  son  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Tennent,  of  Freehold,  New 
Jersey,  an  eloquent  preacher  and  an  ardent  patriot ;  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer,  a  Member  of  Congress,  and  a  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  New  York ;  Rev.  Wm.  Whitwell,  of  Marblehead, 
Massachusetts. 

Of  the  class  of  1759  were  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  A.M.,  of 
Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  a  Trustee  of  the  College ;  Jabez 
Campfield,  A.M.,  a  Surgeon  in  the  American  army ;  Rev. 
John  Carmichael,  A.M.,  of  Delaware ;  Rev.  James  Hunt,  for 
many  years  at  the  head  of  a  flourishing  classical  school  in 
Maryland  ;  James  Leslie,  founder  of  the  "  Leslie  Trust  Fund," 
for  the  education  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey  of  pious  and  in- 
digent candidates  for  the  ministry ;  Samuel  Spencer,  of  North 
Carolina,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State. 

Fourteen  of  the  graduates  in  these  two  years  became  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  the  best  known  of  whom  are  the  five  clergy- 
men mentioned  above. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION   OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL  DAVIES,  THE 
FOURTH  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

MR.  DAVIES  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  on  the 
26th  of  July,  1759,  as  appears  from  the  following  minute  of  the 
Trustees  at  their  meeting  on  Wednesday,  the  26th  of  Septem- 
ber, being  the  day  of  the  annual  Commencement  for  that  year: 
"  The  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Davies  having,  pursuant  to  the  meas- 
ures taken  by  this  Board,  arrived  at  Nassau  Hall  in  July  last, 
and  entered  on  the  office  of  President  of  the  College  on  the 
26th  day  of  that  month,  was  now  qualified  by  taking  the  sev- 
eral oaths  as  the  Charter  directs.  And  the  Board  unanimously 
voted  that  Mr.  Davies's  stated  salary  shall  begin  from  the  Thir- 
teenth Day  of  May  last,  which  was  the  Day  of  the  Dissolution 
of  his  Pastoral  Relation  from  the  People  of  his  former  Charge." 
It  was  on  the  i/th,  and  not  on  the  I3th,  that  this  dissolution 
occurred,  as  appears  from  the  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia.  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Davies  an- 
nounced to  his  church  on  the  1 3th,  which  was  the  Sabbath,  his 
purpose  to  accept  the  offer  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  and 
to  apply  for  a  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation. 

There  was  no  meeting  of  the  Board  between  that  which  oc- 
curred on  the  9th  of  May,  1759,  at  which  Mr.  Davies  was  a 
second  time  chosen  President,  and  this  meeting  of  the  26th  of 
September  ;  but  in  pursuance  of  the  wishes  of  the  Trustees,  ex- 
pressed at  the  time  of  Mr.  Davies's  second  election,  he  did  not 
wait  for  a  formal  induction  into  office  to  begin  his  work  as 
President.  What  special  matters  occupied  his  attention  from 
the  time  of  his  arrival  until  the  ensuing  Commencement  we 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining;  but,  from  the  character  of  the 
man,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  abounded  in  labors  for 

203 


204        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  upbuilding  of  the  institution  as  a  seminary  of  religion  and 
learning. 

Mr.  Davies  presided  at  this  Commencement.  Eighteen  can- 
didates, who  had  pursued  their  studies  at  Nassau  Hall,  were 
admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  ;  and  two  others,  gradu- 
ates of  Yale  College,  were  admitted  to  the  same  honor  in  this 
College.  The  second  degree  in  the  Arts  was  conferred  upon 
eight  candidates,  seven  of  whom  were  graduates  of  the  College. 

The  Treasurer  was  directed  to  "  pay  to  Mr.  Davies  the  sum 
of  .£60.17.3,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  removing  his  family  from 
Hanover  (Virginia)  to  Princetown." 

By  a  resolution  of  the  Board,  the  Steward  was  "allowed  the 
sum  of  Twenty  Shillings  per  annum  for  every  Boarder  in  the 
College  for  the  ensuing  year,  which  is  to  be  continued  during 
the  time  of  his  continuance  in  the  service."  This  seems  to 
have  been  in  lieu  of  a  fixed  salary,  and  constituted  a  part  of  the 
expenses  incurred  by  the  College  in  supplying  the  students  with 
board,  the  profit  or  loss  from  which  accrued  to  the  College,  and 
not  to  the  Steward.  It  was  "  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Davies's  salary 
for  the  first  half-year  be  paid  at  the  end  of  six  months,  and  half- 
yearly  for  the  future,  when  practicable."  This  expression, 
"  when  practicable,"  shows  that  in  these  early  times  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  College,  notwithstanding  all  the  aid  they  had  received 
from  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home, 'the  Trustees  did  not  always 
find  it  easy  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  institution. 

The  Treasurer  was  directed  to  "  pay  Mr.  Green  the  sum  of 
;£ioo  for  his  six  months'  services  in  the  College."  This  vote 
shows  that  Mr.  Green  did  not  perform  the  duties  of  the  Vice- 
President  for  the  whole  term  intervening  between  his  appoint- 
ment on  the  22d  of  November,  1758,  and  the  26th  of  July, 
when  Mr.  Davies  entered  upon  his  duties  as  President.* 

It  is  most  probable  that,  upon  learning  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  in  favor  of  Mr.  Davies's  release  from  his  pastoral  charge, 

*  The  entire  minute  of  the  Synod  in  reference  to  the  dissolution  of  Mr.  Davies's 
pastoral  charge  may  with  propriety  be  here  inserted,  as  showing  the  carefully  con- 
sidered judgment  of  the  Synod  in  reference  to  his  duty  in  this  matter.  The  minute 
is  as  follows : 

"  An  application  to  the  Synod  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL    DA  VIES. 


205 


Mr.  Green  deemed  it  best  to  retire  at  once  from  the  govern- 
ment of  the  College.  The  six  months  during  which  he  dis- 
charged the  duties  assigned  him  expired  upon  the  22d  of  May, 
and  it  was  doubtless  for  the  services  rendered  during  these 
six  months  that  he  received  the  .£100  voted  to  him  on  this 
occasion  in  accordance  with  the  resolution  adopted  at  the  time 
of  his  appointment,  that  his  salary  should  be  at  the  rate  of  £200 
per  annum. 

The  next  act  of  the  Board  was  to  "  relinquish  the  grammar- 
school  into  the  hands  of  President  Davies,  to  be  wholly  his  prop- 
erty, as  it  was  formerly  the  property  of  the  late  President  Burr." 

Mr.  Davies  was  granted  the  liberty  of  educating  any  of  his 
sons  in  the  College  free  from  the  charge  of  tuition-money.  It 
is  due  to  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  the  senior  Tutor,  that  the 
following  minute  should  be  copied  into  every  history  of  the 
College  : 

"  Voted,  That  Mr.  Halsey,  the  Senior  Tutor,  be  desired  to  accept  the  sum  of  £20, 
as  an  acknowledgment  from  this  Board  for  his  extraordinary  Services  in  Favor  of 
the  College." 

The  following  important  order  was  made  by  the  Board  in 
reference  to  absences  from  College  exercises : 

"  Ordered,  That  all  licenses  for  students  to  absent  themselves  from  the  College, 
or  from  their  stated  Duties  or  Exercises,  be  granted  solely  by  the  President,  or  in 
his  absence  by  the  Tutor  of  such  student  applying  for  the  same. 

"  The  Board  then  adjourned  until  8  o'clock  next  morning,  at  which  hour  the 
members  again  assembled,  present  as  before." 

From  a  resolution  passed  by  the  Board  at  this  meeting,  with 
respect  to  the  College  building  and  the  President's  house,  it 
would  appear  that  neither  building  had  been  completely  finished 
at  this  time. 

Jersey  for  the  liberation  of  Mr.  Davies  from  his  pastoral  charge,  that  he  may  accept 
the  Presidency  of  said  college,  to  which  they  elected  him,  was  brought  in  and  read. 

"  A  supplication  was  also  brought  in  from  Mr.  Davies's  congregation,  earnestly 
requesting  his  continuance  with  them. 

"  The  Synod,  having  seriously  considered  the  congregation's  supplication,  and 
fully  heard  all  the  reasonings  for  and  against  Mr.  Davies's  liberation,  after  solemn 
prayer  to  God  for  direction,  do,  upon  the  whole,  judge  that  the  arguments  in  favor 
of  said  liberation  do  preponderate,  and  agree  that  Mr.  Davies's  pastoral  relation  to 
his  congregation  be  dissolved,  in  order  to  his  removal  to  the  college,  and  do  accord- 
ingly hereby  dissolve  it." 


2o6       HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

In  reference  to  the  purchase  of  books  the  following  resolution 
was  adopted : 

"  That  the  order  for  a  Committee  to  send  to  London  for  Books  for  the  use  of  the 
College  and  the  Grammar  School  be  revoked,  and  that  President  Davies  be  desired  to 
send  for  such  Books  as  shall  be  requisite  for  the  use  of  the  students  for  the  future, 
and  that  he  fix  the  Prices  of  said  Books,  and  commit  them  to  the  care  of  the  Steward 
of  the  College  for  sale ;  and  Mr.  Livingston  is  desired  to  assist  Mr.  Davies  in  said 
Affair." 

The  Mr.  Livingston  here  mentioned  is  Mr.  P.  Van  Brugh 
Livingston,  of  New  York,  a  merchant  of  that  city,  and  a  Trustee 
of  the  College.  The  importation  of  books  by  the  College  au- 
thorities, for  the  use  of  the  students,  continued,  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  as  late  as  the  earlier  part  of  President  S.  S. 
Smith's  administration,  which  extended  from  the  spring  of  1795 
to  the  autumn  of  1812. 

President  Davies  was  desired,  as  soon  as  convenient,  "  to  take 
a  Methodical  Catalogue  of  the  Books  of  the  College  Library, 
and  order  the  same  to  be  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  Col- 
lege." Such  a  catalogue  was  prepared,  and  it  was  published 
January  29,  1760.  It  was  printed  at  Woodbridge,  New  Jersey, 
at  the  well-known  press  of  James  Parker. 

A  copy  of  this  catalogue  has  recently  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  writer  of  this  work.  It  is  contained  in  a  small  pamphlet 
of  thirty-six  pages,  the  last  two  of  which  are  wanting.  The 
number  of  works  in  the  library  must  have  been  about  eight 
hundred,  the  number  of  volumes  nearly  twelve  hundred.  The 
volumes  were  numbered  as  they  were  placed  upon  the  shelves, 
and  the  highest  number  in  the  above-mentioned  copy  of  the 
catalogue  is  eleven  hundred  and  seventy-five. 

This  printed  catalogue  includes  the  names  of  ten  books  be- 
longing to  Governor  Belcher's  private  family  and  given  by  him 
to  the  College.  The  Governor's  collection  contained  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  volumes,  sixty  of  which  were  folios,  and 
many  of  them  valuable  works.  The  other  books  were  chiefly 
presents  from  other  friends  of  the  institution.  These  volumes, 
with  all  the  other  books  then  belonging  to  the  College  library, 
were  consumed  by  the  fire  of  March,  1802,  which  made  Nassau 
Hall  a  ruin. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


2O7 


The  following  preface  to  the  catalogue  sets  forth  "  The  De- 
sign of  the  Publication" : 

"  A  large  and  well-sorted  Collection  of  Books  on  the  various  Branches  of  Litera- 
ture is  the  most  ornamental  and  useful  Furniture  of  a  College ;  and  the  most  proper 
and  valuable  Fund  with  which  it  can  be  endowed.  It  is  one  of  the  best  Helps  to 
enrich  the  Minds  both  of  the  Officers  and  Students  with  Knowledge ;  to  give  them 
an  extensive  Acquaintance  with  Authors ;  and  to  lead  them  beyond  the  narrow 
Limits  of  the  Books  to  which  they  are  confined  in  their  stated  Studies  and  Recita- 
tions, that  they  may  expatiate  at  large  thro'  the  boundless  and  variegated  Fields  of 
Science.  If  they  have  Books  always  at  hand  to  consult  upon  every  Subject  that 
may  occur  to  them,  as  demanding  a  more  thoro'  Discussion,  in  their  public  Dis- 
putes, in  the  Course  of  their  Studies,  in  Conversation,  or  their  own  fortuitous  Tho'ts ; 
it  will  enable  them  to  investigate  Truth  through  its  intricate  Recesses;  and  to 
guard  against  the  Stratagems  and  Assaults  of  Error.  It  will  teach  them  Modesty 
and  Self-Diffidence,  when  they  perceive  the  free  and  different  Sentiments  of  Men 
equally  great  and  good ;  and  give  at  least  such  Hints,  as  their  Invention  may  after- 
wards improve  upon,  when  they  appear  in  public  Life,  in  a  Country  where  Books 
are  so  scarce,  and  private  Libraries  so  poor  and  few,  that  their  principal  Resources 
must  be  their  own  Invention. 

"  The  College  of  New  Jersey  is  so  evidently  adapted  and  intended  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Religion  and  useful  Learning  among  all  Denominations  of  Protest- 
ants, that  it  has  been  the  favourite  Object  of  public  Charity,  both  in  Great  Britain 
and  America,  from  its  first  Institution.  And  by  that  Assistance  alone  it  has 
been  raised  from  Nothing  to  its  present  State  in  a  few  Years ;  a  Monument  to 
Posterity  of  the  Generosity  of  the  Age  in  which  it  was  founded ;  and  a  public 
Proof  of  the  Agency  of  Providence  in  Favour  of  great  and  good  Designs,  how- 
ever impracticable  they  may  appear  in  their  first  Projection.  Its  Library  in  par- 
ticular has  been  almost  entirely  formed  of  the  Donations  of  several  public-spirited 
Gentlemen  upon  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic ;  whose  names  Gratitude  would  not 
put  herself  to  Pain  in  concealing,  were  they  desirous,  or  even  patient,  of  the  uni- 
versal Praise  their  disinterested  Charity  deserves. 

"  But  after  all  this  liberal  Assistance,  a  survey  of  its  literary  Wealth,  whcih  is  ex- 
posed to  view  in  the  following  Catalogue,  will  soon  convince  the  Friends  of  Learn- 
ing and  Nassau  Hall  how  poor  it  still  is  in  this  important  Article;  to  which  no 
Additions  can  be  made  from  the  Treasury,  which  is  far  from  being  equal  to  other 
unavoidable  and  more  indispensable  Exigencies.  But  few  modern  Authors,  who 
have  unquestionably  some  Advantages  above  the  immortal  Ancients,  adorn  the 
Shelves.  This  Defect  is  most  sensibly  felt  in  the  study  of  Mathematics  and  the 
Newtonian  Philosophy,  in  which  the  Students  have  but  very  imperfect  Helps, 
either  from  Books  or  Instruments. 

"  As  some  valuable  Benefactions  have  been  spontaneous  Offerings  of  unsolicited 
Charity,  without  any  other  Excitement  than  the  Knowledge  of  the  Poverty  and  the 
public  Utility  of  the  Foundation,  this  Catalogue  is  published  to  give  Information  to 
such,  who  are  watching  for  Opportunities  of  doing  good ;  and  to  afford  particular 
Benefactors  the  Pleasure  of  seeing  how  many  others  have  concurred  with  them  in 
their  favourite  Charity." 


2o8        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

This  preface  was  written  by  President  Davies,  and  it  was 
probably  the  first  article  penned  and  published  by  him  in  the 
interests  of  the  College  after  he  became  its  President.  The  re- 
marks respecting  the  urgent  need  of  a  large  and  well-selected 
library  for  the  College  were  as  apposite  in  every  subsequent 
part  of  its  history,  until  very  lately,  as  they  were  when  first 
written. 

The  recent  munificence  of  John  C.  Green,  Esq.,  of  New  York, 
has  made  provision  for  the  increase  of  the  College  library,  and 
for  its  preservation,  such  as  in  all  probability  would  more  than 
have  satisfied  the  enlarged  views  and  earnest  desires  of  Presi- 
dent Davies.  All  that  is  now  wanting,  so  far  as  the  library  is 
concerned,  is  a  fund  to  pay  a  well-qualified  librarian  to  devote 
to  it  his  whole  time. 

The  next  record  had  reference  to  a  provision  for  the  Trustees 
dining  together;  but  it  was  cancelled, — for  what  reason,  or  by 
whom,  it  does  not  appear.  It  is  possible  that  the  record  was 
an  error,  and  that  the  motion  was  not  adopted.  As  far  as  it  can 
now  be  deciphered,  the  minute  was  in  these  words: 

"  Voted,  That  in  future  at  all  meetings  of  the  Trustees  the  Steward  of  the 
College  be  ordered  to  furnish  a  Dinner  for  the  Corporation,  with  proper  Liquors, 
that  the  several  members  may  have  the  conveniency  of  being  together,  and  that 
the  said 

"  Every  Person  dining  at  such  Table  may  deposite  what  gratuity  he  thinks 
proper  for  defraying  the  Expense  thereof." 

The  custom  here  introduced,  or  proposed  to  be  introduced, 
has  prevailed  ever  since.  At  all  their  meetings  the  Trustees 
dine  together ;  but  of  late  years  the  "  proper  Liquors"  have  been 
dispensed  with;  and  no  gratuity  is  expected  of  any  Trustee  or 
invited  guest. 

Messrs.  Davies,  Tennent,  and  Cowell  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  purchase  a  lot  of  land  contiguous  to  the  College 
grounds,  and  belonging  to  the  estate  of  the  late  Mr.  Samuel 
Hazard,  of  Philadelphia.  The  purchase  was  made. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Board,  the  first  ever  attended  by  Pres- 
ident Davies,  several  matters  of  much  interest  to  the  College 
claimed  the  attention  of  the  Trustees,  but  the  most  weighty  of 
them  were  embraced  in  these  two  resolutions,  viz.: 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL  DA  VIES. 


209 


"  Resolved,  That  Governor  Bernard,  Messrs.  Davies,  f  W.]  P.  T.  Smith,  W.  Ten- 
nent,  Finley,  Green,  Cummings,  and  Stockton,  or  any  three  of  them,  be  a  committee 
to  draw  up  a  System  of  Regulations  concerning  Admission  into  College,  with  the 
requisite  Qualifications  for  Degrees,  and  that  all  the  Trustees  who  choose  to  be 
present  have  liberty  of  voting.* 

"  Resolved,  That  Governor  Bernard,  Mr.  Hude,  Mr.  W.  P.  T.  Smith,  Wm.  Smith, 
Esq.,  Mr.  Woodruff,  Messrs.  Cowell,  Treat,  Tennent,  Finley,  Green,  Cummings, 
and  Stockton,  be  a  Committee,  any  five  of  whom  to  be  a  Quorum,  to  consider  of 
proper  measures  to  enlarge  the  Fund  and  to  extend  the  usefulness  of  the  College. 
All  other  Trustees  shall  have  votes  in  the  above  Committee." 

The  last  clause  in  each  of  these  resolutions  virtually  made 
the  two  committees  one.  They  held  their  first  meeting  at  Perth 
Amboy,  the  residence  of  Governor  Bernard,  the  chairman  of 
both  committees,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1759.  There  were 
present  on  this  occasion  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  President 
Davies,  Mr.  Hude,  Mr.  Woodruff,  Mr.  W.  P.  T.  Smith,  Mr.  [W.] 
Tennent,  and  Mr.  Cummings. 

The  following  are  the  minutes  of  the  committee: 

"  The  Committee  not  being  able  at  present  to  resolve  upon  any  methods  that  will 
have  a  probable  Tendency  to  increase  the  Funds  of  the  College,  do  agree  to  post- 
pone the  consideration  of  this  Affair. 

"  The  Committee  then  proceeded  to  take  into  Consideration  the  Qualifications 
necessary  to  entitle  the  students  to  the  usual  Degrees.  And  are  of  the  Opinion  that 
a  Residence  at  College  for  some  Time,  and  proper  Collegiate  Exercises,  are  neces- 
sary to  be  enjoined  on  those  youths  who  apply  for  said  Degrees.  And  the  Com- 
mittee request  the  President  of  the  College  to  draw  up  some  Regulations  upon  this 
Head,  to  be  laid  before  them  at  their  next  meeting,  to  [be  held]  the  first  Day  of 
December  next;  President  Davies  to  give  notice  of  the  meeting." 

Whether  the  committee  held  another  meeting  is  uncertain,  as 
there  is  no  record  of  their  having  done  so.  But,  whether  they 
did  or  did  not,  President  Davies  drew  up  the  proposed  regula- 
tions, which,  with  the  consent  no  doubt  of  the  members  of  the 
committee,  either  formally  or  informally  given,  were  submitted 
to  the  Board  at  their  meeting  on  Wednesday,  the  24th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1760,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commencement.  The 
minute  of  the  Board  in  reference  to  the  action  of  the  committee 
is  in  these  words  : 

*  These  matters  received  due  attention  at  the  time  Mr.  Burr  was  chosen  President 
under  the  second  charter,  November  9,  1748.  But  it  is  probable  that  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Trustees,  as  well  as  in  that  of  President  Davies,  it  was  deemed  expe- 
dient to  revise  the  existing  rules  and  to  add  to  their  stringency. 


2io        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  The  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  draw  up  a  System  of  Regula- 
tions concerning  Admission  into  College,  and  to  Degrees  of  Bachelor  and  Master 
of  Arts,  having  produced  a  Draught  thereof,  and  the  same  being  considered  and 
amended  by  the  Trustees,  was  confirmed  in  the  Terms  following,  to  wit : 

"  The  conferring  of  Academical  Honours  was  intended  as  an  Incentive  to  a  laud- 
able Ambition  in  Study,  and  as  a  Reward  of  literary  Merit.  And  the  different 
Degrees  of  these  honorary  Distinctions  conferred  at  different  Periods  suppose  a 
proportional  Increase  of  literary  Merit ;  and  consequently  a  sufficient  Time  of  Resi- 
dence in  College,  for  further  prosecution  of  Study,  and  a  proper  previous  Exami- 
nation, to  discover  the  Improvement  of  the  Candidates.  And  when  they  are 
promiscuously  distributed  as  cursory  Formalities  after  the  usual  Intervals  of  Time, 
without  any  previous  evidence  of  suitable  Qualifications,  they  sink  into  Contempt 
as  insignificant  Ceremonies,  and  no  longer  answer  their  original  Design.  Therefore 
the  Trustees  are  determined  to  admit  none  to  a  Degree  in  this  College  but  upon 
the  following  terms,  in  Addition  to  those  already  established : 

"  Graduates  from  other  Colleges,  upon  producing  Diplomas  or  other  sufficient 
Testimonials,  shall  be  admitted  to  the  same  Degree  in  this,  without  any  previous 
Examination.  But  it  shall  be  inserted  in  their  Diplomas  and  publickly  declared 
by  the  President  in  conferring  it,  that  it  is  conferred  Honoris  causa,  according  to 
the  Manner  of  some  Universities  abroad.  But  if  they  stand  Candidates  for  a 
higher  Degree  than  they  have  yet  been  admitted  to,  they  shall  submit  to  all  the 
Regulations  contained  in  the  following  Articles. 

"  All  Candidates  for  a  Master's  Degree  shall  reside  in  or  near  the  College  at 
least  one  Week  immediately  preceding  that  Commencement  at  which  they  expect 
to  receive  their  Degrees.  During  which  Time  they  shall  submit  to  the  Laws  and 
Orders  of  the  College.  And  on  the  Tuesday  morning  immediately  preceding 
the  last  Wednesday  of  September  (on  which  the  Anniversary  Commencement  is 
always  held)  they  shall  attend  in  the  College  in  order  to  pass  such  an  Examination 
as  the  Trustees  then  present  shall  think  necessary ;  especially  in  such  Branches  of 
Literature  as  have  a  more  direct  Connection  with  that  Profession  of  Life  which 
they  have  entered  upon  or  have  in  View,  whether  Divinity,  Law,  or  Physick,  and 
shall  make  such  preparation  for  the  Commencement  as  the  Officers  of  the  College 
shall  judge  proper. 

"  As  so  short  a  Residence  can  be  an  intolerable  Inconvenience  to  but  very  few, 
and  will  render  the  second  Degree  a  real  Honor,  the  Trustees  will  not  dispense 
with  it  in  ordinary  Cases.  Yet  as  the  peculiar  Circumstances  of  some  Persons  of 
sufficient  Accomplishments  may  render  them  incapable  of  Residence,  they  are  de- 
sired to  inform  the  President  by  Letter,  some  convenient  Time  before  the  Com- 
mencement at  which  they  intend  to  offer  themselves  Candidates,  of  the  Reason  of 
their  Incapacity;  that  the  Trustees  may  judge  whether,  they  are  sufficient  for  a  Dis- 
pensation for  the  whole  or  any  Part  of  the  Time  required,  and  what  Exercise  shall 
be  substituted  instead  of  Residence. 

"  None  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Honours  of  the  College  without  Testimonials  of 
their  good  moral  conduct,  while  absent  from  College,  signed  by  two  or  more  gentle- 
men of  Note  and  Veracity,  in  the  Place  where  they  have  resided,  or  unless  they 
are  recommended  from  personal  knowledge  by  one  of  the  Trustees  or  College 
Officers." 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  DAV'lES.     2ll 

Additional  regulations  respecting  the  terms  of  first  admission 
into  College : 

"  Every  student  shall  be  obliged  to  reside  in  College  at  least  two  years  before  his 
first  graduation  ;  and  therefore,  after  the  Expiration  of  one  year  from  the  next  Com- 
mencement (A.D.  1760),  none  shall  be  admitted  later  than  the  Beginning  of  the 
Junior  Year.  But  that  anybody  may  have  Liberty  to  offer  himself  at  the  Public 
Examination  as  a  Candidate  for  a  Bachelor's  Degree,  and  if  approved  shall  be  ad- 
mitted thereto  accordingly  upon  paying  the  sum  of  Eight  Pounds,  being  the  Tuition 
Money  for  Two  years,  exclusive  of  Degree  Fees. 

"  Candidates  for  the  Freshman  Class  shall  be  regulated  by  the  Law  already  made 
in  such  case.  But  Candidates  for  any  of  the  higher  Classes  shall  not  only  be  pre- 
viously examined,  as  usual,  but  recite  for  Two  Weeks  upon  Trial  in  that  particular 
Class  to  which  they  stand  Candidates,  and  then  shall  be  fixed  in  that  or  a-  lower,  as 
the  College  Officers  shall  judge  them  qualified." 

How  far  the  rules  respecting  the  examination  of  candidates 
for  the  second  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  of  their  residence  at  the 
College  for  one  week,  were  carried  into  effect,  and  how  long  they 
continued  in  force,  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  It  is 
not  probable  that  they  were  very  rigidly  enforced,  for  after  the 
adoption  of  these  rules  the  Bachelors  of  Arts  admitted  to  their 
second  degree  continued  to  be  in  about  the  same  proportion  to 
those  who  did  not  receive  it  that  they  had  previously  been. 
Had  Mr.  Davies  lived,  it  is  probable  that  he  would  have  enforced 
the  observance  of  these  rules  more  resolutely  than  his  succes- 
sors in  office  were  disposed  to  do,  as  they  doubtless  originated 
with  him.  There  is  very  little  reason,  however,  for  thinking 
that  the  experiment  would  have  been  a  successful  one  even  in 
his  energetic  hands,  or  a  very  useful  one  if  carried  into  effect. 
This  remark  has  special  reference  to  the  rule  requiring  of  can- 
didates for  the  second  degree  a  week's  residence  at  or  near  the 
College.  At  the  present  day  the  proposed  examinations  of  the 
candidates,  except  as  a  mere  form,  would  be  a  simple  impossi- 
bility. The  demands  upon  the  time  and  strength  of  the  officers 
during  the  week  preceding  the  annual  Commencement  are  as 
much  as  they  can  meet,  without  engaging  in  a  general  examina- 
tion of  the  candidates  for  the  second  degree,  were  they  but  one- 
half,  or  even  one-fourth,  of  their  present  numbers.  The  present 
plan  is  the  only  feasible  one,  viz.,  evidence  that  the  candidate 


212        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

has  been  engaged  in  professional  or  other  studies,  and  that  he 
is  a  person  of  correct  deportment. 

A  residence  of  one  year  is  now  required  on  the  part  of  all 
candidates  for  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  instead  of  two  years 
called  for  in  this  report,  which  was  designed  to  be  a  bar  to  any 
one's  admission  to  a  higher  standing  than  the  Junior  class 
upon  his  first  entrance  into  College.  It  seems  in  strange  con- 
trast with  this  rule  that  there  should  be  an  exception  to  it,  to 
the  extent  that  anybody  may  have  liberty  to  offer  himself  at 
the  public  examinations  as  a  candidate  for  a  Bachelor's  degree, 
and  if  approved  shall  be  admitted  thereto  accordingly  upon 
paying  the  tuition-money  for  two  years,  exclusive  of  the  degree- 
fees.  The  latter  part  of  this  provision  is  of  doubtful  propriety, 
and,  so  far  as  is  known,  there  is  no  instance  in  the  history  of 
the  College  of  a  degree  having  been  conferred  upon  the  con- 
dition here  mentioned. 

No  change  was  made  at  this  time  in  the  terms  of  admission 
into  the  Freshman  class,  with  the  exception  that  the  candidates 
must  be  acquainted  with  "Vulgar  Arithmetic,"  in  addition  to 
the  studies  previously  required. 

To  incite  to  diligence  in  study,  it  was  "  Voted,  That  for  the 
future  the  President  and  Tutors,  with  any  other  gentlemen  of 
Education  who  shall  choose  to  be  present,  shall  examine  an- 
nually," before  the  Commencement,  "  the  several  classes,  and 
that  such  as  are  found  unqualified  shall  not  be  allowed  to  rise 
in  the  usual  course." 

This  whole  action  shows  that  there  was  a  desire  and  a  purpose 
on  the  part  of  President  Davies  to  elevate  the  standard  of  scholar- 
ship, both  before  and  after  the  conferring  of  the  first  degree  in 
the  Arts,  among  those  who  sought  to  obtain  from  the  College 
literary  honors. 

Besides  the  measures  mentioned  above,  most  of  which  were 
designed  to  stir  up  the  students  to  greater  diligence,  several 
other  matters  of  moment  to  the  College  received  the  attention 
of  the  Board  and  led  to  action  on  the  part  of  the  Trustees. 
Among  these  were  the  following,  viz.:  provision  for  an  annual 
inspection  of  the  Steward's  accounts,  and  also  of  the  Treas- 
urer's, and  for  a  full  and  regular  report  by  the  Examining 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  KEV.  SAMUEL  DA  VIES. 


213 


Committee ;  the  purchase  of  additional  lots  contiguous  to 
the  College ;  an  order  that  in  future  no  candidate  be  admitted 
to  a  Degree  unless  he  produce  a  certificate  that  he  is  not  in 
arrears  to  the  College;  a  discretionary  power  given  to  the 
President  and  Tutors  to  substitute  other  punishments,  short 
of  suspension,  in  lieu  of  fines  for  minor  offences  against 
College  order ;  an  authority  to  substitute  Psalmody  at  even- 
ing prayer,  for  reading  a  portion  of  Scripture, — the  reading  of 
which  had  been  usual  both  morning  and  evening  in  the  Chapel 
service. 

The  President  and  Tutors  were  authorized  to  appoint  any  of 
the  students  to  read  a  portion  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  out  of 
the  original  language  at  morning  prayers.  This  indicates  that 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  original  languages  was  an  ob- 
ject of  careful  attention  at  this  time.  Measures  were  also  taken 
for  the  preparing  of  a  historical  account  of  the  rise  and  progress 
and  present  state  of  the  College.  This  matter  was  intrusted  to 
a  committee  consisting  of  President  Davies,  the  Rev.  William 
Tennent,  Rev.  David  Cowell,  and  Richard  Stockton.  Doubt- 
less the  expectation  was  that  President  Davies  would  write  the 
history.  But  his  sudden  death,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months 
after,  prevented  his  performing  this  service  for  the  College. 
Mr.  Cowell,  another  member  of  the  committee,  died  a  short 
time  before  Mr.  Davies  himself. 

As  there  is  no  intimation  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  any 
material  change  in  the  course  of  instruction  during  the  admin- 
istration of  Mr.  Davies,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  it  con- 
tinued to  be  very  much  the  same  as  it  was  previously  to  his 
accession  to  the  Presidency ;  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  that 
more  attention  was  given  to  public  speaking.  President  Green, 
in  his  "  Notes,"  remarks  of  President  Davies,  "  A  poet  and  an 
orator  himself,  he  turned  the  attention  of  his  pupils  to  the 
cultivation  of  English  composition  and  eloquence  with  great 
effect.  He  introduced  the  practice,  ever  since  continued,  of 
delivering  monthly  orations  by  members  of  the  Senior  class." 

President  Green  further  observes,  "  The  number  of  students 
under  the  administration  of  President  Davies  cannot  be  exactly 
ascertained.  It  probably  did  not  at  anytime  exceed  a  hundred, 


214       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  at  his  death  it  must  have  come  very  little  short  of  that 
number."  If  an  estimate  can  be  made  from  the  number  of 
graduates  from  1759  to  1761,  the  entire  number  of  students  in 
the  College  at  any  one  time  during  President  Davies's  adminis- 
tration must  have  fallen  considerably  short  of  a  hundred ;  al- 
though there  is  reason  to  believe  that  there  was  a  much  larger 
number  at  the  time  of  his  decease  than  at  the  time  of  his 
accession  to  the  Presidency. 

The  various  matters  detailed  above  indicate  that  there  was 
at  this  period  of  its  history  an  active  mind  at  the  head  of  the 
College,  from  whom  great  things  might  have  been  expected 
had  it  pleased  God  to  spare  him  to  the  institution.  But,  in 
the  wise  and  holy  ordering  of  Divine  Providence,  President 
Davies  was  removed  by  death  on  the  4th  of  February,  1761  ; 
having  served  the  College  in  his  office  as  President  a  little 
more  than  eighteen  months. 

The  officers  of  the  College  during  his  administration  were 
Messrs.  Samuel  Davies,  A.M.,  President ;  Jeremiah  Halsey, 
A.M.,  Senior  Tutor;  Joseph  Treat,  Jr.,  A.B.,  Tutor;  Jacob  Ker, 
A.B.,  Tutor. 

Mr.  Halsey  was  a  Tutor  in  the  College  from  1757  to  1767, 
and  he  was  a  Trustee  in  the  College  from  1770  to  1781.  He 
was  an  excellent  teacher,  and  a  most  valuable  College  offi- 
cer; and  as  such  was  held  in  great  esteem  by  the  College 
authorities.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  of  Lamington,  New  Jersey.  He  died  in 
1781. 

Mr.  Treat,  in  October,  1762,  was  installed  as  a  colleague  of 
the  Rev.  David  Bostwick,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  left  the  city  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  never  returned,  but  served 
the  churches  of  Lower  Bethlehem  and  Greenwich,  in  Sussex 
County,  New  Jersey,  until  his  death  in  1797. 

Mr.  Ker  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick 
in  1764,  and  on  the  29th  of  August  in  that  year  he  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Monokin  and  Wicomico, 
Maryland,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  July  29,  1795. 
In  a  minute  adopted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes  he  is  spoken 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  DA  VIES. 


215 


of  as  a  great  and  good  man,  whose  loss  was  sensibly  felt  by 
the  Church  in  general,  and  by  that  Presbytery  in  particular. 

In  the  summer  of  1759,  Governor  Bernard  was  transferred  to 
Massachusetts,  as  Governor  of  that  Province,  and  his  Excellency 
Thomas  Boone,  Esq.,  succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  New 
Jersey. 

On  his  first  visit  to  Princeton,  July  8,  1760,  Governor  Boone 
was  attended  by  Mr.  Chief-Justice  Morris  and  several  other 
gentlemen  of  distinction,  and  he  was  introduced  into  Nassau 
Hall  by  the  President  and  Tutors,  who  presented  the  following 
address : 

"  To  his  Excellency  Thomas  Boone,  Esq.,  His  Majesty's  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  Chancellor  and  Vice-Admiral 
of  the  same,  etc. 

"  The  humble  Address  of  the  President  and  Tutors  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

"  SIR, — The  President  and  Tutors  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  give  your  Ex- 
cellency a  most  cordial  welcome  to  Nassau  Hall,  and  beg  leave  warmly  to  con- 
gratulate your  Excellency  upon  your  accession  to  the  Government  of  this  Province, 
where  the  minds  of  so  many  are  happily  prepossessed  in  your  favor  by  the  agree- 
able anticipations  they  have  received  of  your  Excellency's  character. 

"  Though  we  form  a  very  high  estimate,  Sir,  of  the  importance  of  your  Excel- 
lency's patronage  to  the  prosperity  of  this  Infant  College,  which  has  been  founded 
by  one  and  countenanced  by  another  of  your  predecessors,  yet  we  would  use  no 
artifice  to  pre-engage  your  Excellency's  friendship  and  protection  without  the 
sanction  of  your  own  well-informed  judgment ;  but  we  lay  ourselves  open  to  your 
Excellency's  inspection,  and  invite  you  to  enquire  into  its  constitution,  the  modes 
of  instruction  and  discipline,  the  care  taken  of  the  principles  and  morals  of  the 
Students,  and  their  progress  in  the  various  branches  of  literature ;  and  then  we 
shall  cheerfully  leave  your  Excellency  to  follow  the  conduct  of  your  own  judgment 
and  the  impulse  of  a  patriot  heart,  ever  friendly  to  true  learning  and  virtue,  but 
ever  an  enemy  to  pedantry,  bigotry,  and  idle  pretensions,  only  begging  your  Excel- 
lency would  make  some  candid  allowances  for  those  unavoidable  imperfections  that 
result  from  the  present  Infant  State  of  this  Institution,  which  has  been  raised  from 
nothing  in  a  few  years,  by  the  hand  of  public  charity  recommended  only  by  its 
poverty  and  apparent  subserviency  to  the  general  good. 

"  We  beg  leave,  Sir,  particularly  to  request  your  Excellency  to  honor  the  next 
public  Examination  with  your  presence,  when  you  will  have  the  best  opportunity 
of  informing  yourself  what  are  the  branches  of  literature  taught  in  this  Seminary, 
and  what  proficiency  has  been  made  by  the  young  Gentlemen  under  our  tuition. 

"  We  hope,  Sir,  our  future  conduct  will  verify  the  engagements  which  we  now 
voluntarily  assume  to  your  Excellency,  That  we  shall  continue  with  the  utmost 
assiduity  to  instil  into  young  minds  such  principles  as  thro'  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  form  the  Scholar,  the  Patriot,  and  the  Christian.  And  should  we  neglect 


2i6        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

so  essential  an  article  of  our  duty  we  should  anticipate  our  own  doom,  and  expect 
your  Excellency's  severest  animadversions,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  Trustees, 
of  whom  you  are  now  President ;  and  who,  we  doubt  not,  will  give  your  Excel- 
lency proper  expressions  of  their  duty  and  congratulation  at  their  next  convention. 
"  May  all  the  happiness  a  Patriot  can  diffuse,  or  a  free  People  enjoy,  attend  your 
administration  !  and  may  all  the  felicities  which  Heaven  has  made  the  rewards  of 
such  a  beneficent  administration  ever  attend  your  Excellency ! 

"  SAMUEL  DA  VIES,  President. 

"  To  which  his  Excellency  was  pleased  to  return  the  following  answer : 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  this  polite  Salutation  on  my 
arrival  among  you.  The  proper  education  of  Youth  influences  so  materially  all 
Government,  that  this  laudable  Establishment  has  a  natural  claim  to  the  patronage 
of  his  Majesty's  Substitute ;  and  with  the  advantage  of  such  eminent  and  respect- 
able tuition,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  the  Youth  will  be  distinguished  by  the 
acquisition  of  every  useful  and  valuable  accomplishment. 

"  THOMAS  BOONE. 

"  Prince-Town,  July  8,  1760. 

"  His  Excellency  was  also  complimented  by  two  young  gentlemen  of  the  Senior 
Class,  in  a  Latin  and  an  English  Oration ;  and  an  air  of  sincere  congratulation 
appeared  on  every  countenance." 

The  same  year  the  Governor  was  present  at  the  Commence- 
ment exercises,  and  presided  at  the  meetings  of  the  Board. 
This  was  the  only  Commencement  attended  by  Governor  Boone, 
who  the  next  year  was  made  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  and 
it  was  the  second  and  last  Commencement  at  which  Mr.  Davies 
presided. 

The  following  report  of  the  Commencement  is  copied  from 
the  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette"  of  October  9,  1760: 

"Prince  Town,  Nassau  Hall,  September  25,  1760.  Yesterday  the  Anniversary 
Commencement  of  the  College  was  held  here.  The  Procession  of  the  Trustees  and 
Candidates  from  the  President's  House  to  Nassau  Hall  began  at  the  Ringing  of  the 
Bell  precisely  at  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  The  Order  was,  The  Candidates  for 
the  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  first,  two  and  two,  uncovered ;  the  Candidates  for 
the  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  followed  next,  uncovered ;  and  the  Trustees,  accord- 
ing to  their  Seniority,  the  youngest  first,  and  the  Governor  and  President  last,  con- 
cluded. When  the  Candidates  arrived  at  the  steps  of  the  Middle  Entrance  into 
the  Hall  they  stopt,  and  the  whole  Procession  divided  itself  equally  on  each  side 
of  the  gravel  Walk,  and  entered  in  an  inverted  Order.  The  Collegiate  Exercises 
began  with  a  handsome  Salutatory  Oration  in  Latin,  pronounced  by  Mr.  Jonathan 
Smith ;  then  followed  a  Latin  Syllogistick  Dispute,  wherein  the  Respondent  held 
that  '  Sermo  primitus  ab  Inspiratione  divina  Originem  duxit,'  which  was  well  main- 
tained and  opposed.  When  this  was  concluded,  Mr.  Benjamin  Rush  arose,  and  in 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL  DA  VIES. 


217 


a  very  sprightly  and  entertaining  Manner  delivered  an  ingenious  English  Harangue 
in  Praise  of  Oratory.  Then  succeeded  a  Forensick  Dispute  in  English,  in  which  it 
was  held  that '  The  Elegance  of  an  Oration  much  consists  in  the  Words  being  con- 
sonant to  the  Sense.'  The  Respondent,  Mr.  Samuel  Blair,  acquitted  himself  with 
universal  Applause  in  the  elegant  Composition  and  Delivery  of  his  Defence ;  and 
his  Opponent  answered  him  with  Humour  and  Pertinency.  This  was  succeeded  by 
a  Latin  Dispute  in  a  Socratick  Way,  in  which  the  Respondent  affirmed  that  '  Sys- 
tema  Ethica;  perfectum  in  prsesenti  Hominum  Conditione,  sine  Ope  divinae  Revela- 
tionis,  construi  nequit ;'  and  by  a  well-composed  Valedictory  Oration  in  English  by 
Mr.  Enoch  Green.  The  Singing  of  an  Ode  on  Science,  composed  by  the  President 
of  the  College,  concluded  the  Forenoon  Exercises. 

"  The  Entertainment  in  the  Afternoon  began  with  the  Address  to  His  Excellency 
the  Governor  [Boone]  by  Mr.  Stockton  in  the  Name  of  the  Trustees.  After  which 
the  Candidates  for  the  Master's  Degree  disputed  in  Latin  the  following  Question : 
'  An  Rector  civilis  ullam,  in  Rebus  Fidei,  Potestatem  habeat,'  and  '  Nonne  absurdum 
est  Deum  immutabilem  precari,'  which  were  learnedly  defended  and  ingeniously 
opposed.  The  President  then  descended  from  the  Rostrum,  and  with  the  usua 
Formalities  conferred  the  Degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  and  of  Master  of  Arts. 

"  Mr.  Joseph  Treat,  one  of  the  Masters  of  Arts  and  a  Tutor  in  the  College,  then 
ascended,  and  delivered  an  elegant,  pathetic  Valedictory  Oration  in  English,  in  the 
Close  of  which  he  very  handsomely  touched  upon  the  present  flourishing  State  of 
our  Public  Affairs  in  North  America.  The  Singing  of  an  Ode  on  Peace  composed 
by  the  President  concluded  the  whole,  to  the  Universal  Pleasure  and  Satisfaction  of 
a  numerous  Auditory." 

The  Odes,  one  on  Science  and  the  other  on  Peace,  composed 
by  President  Davies,  and  sung  at  the  close  of  the  morning  and 
evening  exercises,  were  many  years  later  confounded  with  a 
poetic  dialogue  recited,  with  choral  songs,  at  the  Commence- 
ment of  1762. 

The  reader  will  probably  observe  that  in  the  above  account 
of  this  Commencement  all  the  substantives  are  begun  with  a 
capital  letter, — a  mode  of  writing  and  printing  formerly  much 
in  vogue,  and  to  which  Dr.  Franklin  gave  a  decided  preference, 
as  being  "so  useful  to  those  who  are  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  language."  This  appears  from  a  letter  of  his,  of  the  date 
of  December  26,  1789,  to  Noah  Webster,  Esq.,  "On  Modern 
Innovations  in  the  English  Language  and  in  Printing." 

Among  the  graduates  of  the  College  during  Mr.  Davies's 
administration  who  rose  to  greater  or  less  distinction  were  the 
following,  in  1760: 

Joseph  Alexander,  D.D.  He  was  very  active  in  the  cause 
of  education  in  both  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  founder  of 
VOL.  i. — 15 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

a  school,  which  became  a  college,  under  the  title  of  Queen's 
Museum. 

John  Archer,  M.D.  He  was  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  from  1801  to  1807. 

Samuel  Blair,  D.D.,  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  of  Fagg's 
Manor.  When  twenty-six  years  of  age  he  was  chosen  by  the 
Trustees  President  of  the  College,  but  declined  the  appoint- 
ment. 

Enos  Kelsey.  During  the  Revolution  he  held  a  responsible 
office  in  the  Clothier-General's  office.  For  many  years  he  was 
the  Treasurer  of  the  College. 

Benjamin  Rush,  M.D.  A  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence ;  Physician-  and  Surgeon-General  for  the  Middle 
Military  District;  member  of  the  Convention  for  forming  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  Professor  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Jonathan  Bayard  Smith,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, from  Pennsylvania,  in  1777  and  1778.  Mr.  Smith  made 
a  large  donation  of  books  to  the  College  library. 


CHAPTER  XL 

MEMOIR   OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  DAVIES,   FOURTH   PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

PRESIDENT  DAVIES  was  born  near  Summit  Bridge,  New  Castle 
County,  Delaware,  November  3, 0.  S.,  1 723.  At  that  time  Dela- 
ware was  a  part  of  Pennsylvania.  The  year  here  mentioned 
is  given  upon  the  authority  of  a  table  in  President  Davies's 
handwriting.  The  Bible,  upon  a  blank  leaf  of  which  this  table 
was  written,  was  in  the  possession  of  some  of  President  Davies's 
descendants,  residing  in  Petersburg,  Virginia,  as  late  as  the 
year  1853,  as  appears  from  a  sketch  of  his  life  in  the  "  Presbyte- 
rian Magazine"  for  that  year.  This  sketch,  although  very  brief, 
is  very  valuable,  as  it  contains  information  previously  published 
nowhere  else,  except  in  Dr.  Foote's  "  Sketches  of  Virginia."  The 
year  of  his  birth,  as  given  upon  his  tombstone,  is  1724;  and 
this  has  been  doubtless  the  occasion  of  a  like  error  in  several 
of  the  biographical  notices  of  him.  He  was  of  Welsh  descent, 
and  his  parents  were  of  humble  origin,  but  persons  of  good 
character  and  fervent  piety.  The  mother  is  said  to  have  been 
a  woman  of  uncommon  powers  of  mind,  and  also  eminent  for 
her  faith  and  zeal.  He  was  named  Samuel,  after  Samuel  the 
prophet.  The  mother  of  the  prophet  called  him  Samuel  be- 
cause she  had  asked  him  of  the  LORD;  and  for  the  same  reason 
the  mother  of  President  Davies  called  her  son  Samuel,  thereby 
expressing  her  belief  that  God  had  heard  her  prayer,  as,  ages 
before,  he  had  heard  the  prayer  of  Hannah.  Like  Hannah,  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  she  had  solemnly  vowed  that  if  the  LORD 
would  give  her  a  man-child  she  would  devote  him  to  the  LORD 
all  his  days ;  and  from  the  birth  of  her  son  she  seems  to  have 
regarded  him  as  a  child  given  to  her  to  be  trained  for  the  gospel 
ministry. 

219 


220        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend  Dr.  Gibbons,  of  London,  after  speak- 
ing of  these  things,  President  Davies  adds,  "  This  early  dedi- 
cation to  God  has  always  been  a  strong  inducement  to  me  to 
devote  myself  to  Him  by  my  own  personal  act;  and  the  most 
important  blessings  of  my  life  I  have  looked  upon  as  imme- 
diate answers  to  the  prayers  of  a  pious  mother.  But,  alas ! 
what  a  degenerate  plant  am  I !  How  unworthy  such  a  parent 
and  such  a  birth  !" 

In  his  early  childhood  he  was  taught  by  his  mother,  and 
when  ten  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  an  English  school  some 
distance  from  his  father's  residence,  and  remained  there  two 
years.  At  this  school  he  is  said  to  have  made  rapid  progress 
in  his  studies.  For  want  of  the  religious  training  which  he 
enjoyed  at  home,  he  became  somewhat  careless  in  his  attention 
to  his  religious  interests;  but  he  still  made  a  practice  of  secret 
prayer,  especially  in  the  evening.  And  it  is  worthy  of  note 
that  in  his  prayers  at  this  very  time  he  prayed  more  earnestly 
that  he  might  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel  than  for  any  other 
thing.  In  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  age  he  made  a  public  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  entered  upon  a  course  of  study 
preparatory  to  the  ministry.  Two  or  three  of  his  biographers 
speak  of  his  uniting  with  the  Church,  forgetting  that  in  virtue 
of  his  birth  he  was  a  member  of  the  Church  and  that  by  his 
baptism  in  infancy  he  had  been  recognized  as  a  member. 

His  classical  studies  were  begun  under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev. 
Abel  Morgan,  a  Baptist  preacher  of  much  note  at  that  time ; 
but  he  was  afterwards  sent  to  the  school  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Blair,  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  Under 
the  guidance  of  this  learned  and  eloquent  divine  he  was  trained 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  and  on  the  3<Dth  of  July,  1746,  being 
in  the  twenty-third  year  of  his  age,  he  was  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle.  By  this  same  Presbytery  he 
was  ordained  as  an  evangelist,  February  19,  1747,  O.  S.,  with  a 
view  to  his  visiting  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  Virginia.  On 
the  23d  of  October,  1746,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Kirk- 
patrick,  who,  with  her  infant  son,  died  on  the  i6th  of  September, 
1747.  At  the  time  of  his  licensure  his  health  was  quite  feeble, 
and  it  continued  so  for  some  years  :  still,  he  was  resolved  that 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES.  22I 

while  life  and  sufficient  strength  remained  he  would  devote 
himself  earnestly  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  gospel ;  and  this 
he  did  with  eminent  success.  His  going  to  Virginia  was  not 
of  his  own  motion,  but  in  compliance  with  the  advice  and  desire 
of  the  Presbytery. 

Before  visiting  Hanover,  which  was  more  especially  to  be  the 
field  of  his  labor,  he  visited  Williamsburg,  the  seat  of  the  Colo- 
nial Government,  and  petitioned  the  General  Court  to  grant 
him  "  a  license  to  officiate  in  and  about  Hanover  at  four  meet- 
ing-houses." The  court  hesitated;  but  the  Governor,  the  Hon- 
orable Wm.  Gooch,  favoring  the  application,  the  license  was 
granted. 

At  this  very  time  there  were  pending  in  this  court  suits 
against  sundry  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  for  attend- 
ing religious  assemblies  at  unlicensed  houses  and  listening  to 
preachers  who  had  not  obtained  from  the  General  Court  per- 
mission to  preach.  From  an  early  date  Episcopacy  was  estab- 
lished in  Virginia,  and  the  Church  in  this  Province  had  been 
placed  under  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
London,  whose  Commissary  resided  at  Williamsburg,  and  was 
a  member  of  the  General  Court,  and  also  Rector  or  President  of 
William  and  Mary  College.  The  first  Commissary,  the  Rev. 
John  Blair,  may  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  College,  as 
he  more  than  any  other  person  was  instrumental  in  obtaining 
for  it  a  royal  charter,  and  also  important  grants  both  from  the 
King  and  from  the  Colonial  Legislature.  Dr.  William  Dawson, 
the  Commissary  when  Davies  applied  for  his  license,  was  a 
liberal-minded  man,  far  those  times,  and  he  is  believed  to  have 
voted  in  favor  of  granting  the  license  sought.  Yet  it  would 
seem  from  some  of  his  correspondence  with  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don that  even  he  was  somewhat  disturbed  at  the  success  of  Mr. 
Davies,  and  at  the  numerous  additions  to  the  Dissenters  from 
the  ranks  of  the  conformists.  Mr.  Davies's  labors  were  most 
arduous,  and  no  one  but  a  man  of  resolute  will  and  of  great 
natural  resources  could  have  done  what  he  by  the  grace  of  God 
was  stirred  up  to  undertake  and  enabled  to  accomplish. 

Having  obtained  his  license,  Mr.  Davies  went  to  Hanover, 
and  was  received  with  outbursts  of  joy.  "  His  coming,"  says 


222        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Dr.  Foote,  "  with  his  license  was  like  a  visit  from  an  angel 
of  mercy.  His  ardent  sermons  refreshed  the  congregation, 
and  his  legal  protection  turned  the  enmity  of  his  opposers  to 
their  own  mortification."  He  continued  at  Hanover  several 
months. 

Of  his  mission  Mr.  Davies  thus  writes:  "I  preached  fre- 
quently in  Hanover  and  some  of  the  adjacent  counties,  and 
though  the  fervor  of  the  work  was  considerably  abated,  and 
my  labors  were  not  blessed  with  success  equal  to  that  of  my 
brethren,  yet  I  have  reason  to  hope  they  were  of  service  in  sev- 
eral instances.  The  importunities  they  used  with  me  to  settle 
with  them  were  invincible ;  and  upon  my  departure  they  sent  a 
call  for  me  to  the  Presbytery." 

The  death  of  his  first  wife,  which  occurred  about  this  time, 
greatly  depressed  him :  this,  together  with  feeble  health  and 
threatening  consumption,  disinclined  him  to  settle  anywhere 
permanently  as  the  pastor  of  a  church ;  and  he  continued  to 
travel  and  preach  wherever  a  favorable  opportunity  presented 
itself.  Dr.  Gibbons,  narrating  the  circumstances  as  he  received 
them  from  Mr.  Davies,  says,  "  Finding  himself  upon  the  borders 
of  the  grave,  and  without  any  hopes  of  a  recovery,  he  determined 
to  spend  the  little  remains  of  an  almost  exhausted  life  in  endeav- 
oring to  advance  his  Master's  glory  in  the  good  of  souls.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  removed  from  the  place  where  he  was  to  another 
about  an  hundred  miles  distance,  that  was  then  in  want  of  a  min- 
ister. Here  he  labored  in  season  and  out  of  season.  And,  as 
he  told  me,  he  preached  in  the  day  and  had  his  hectic  fever 
by  night,  and  that  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  sometimes  de- 
lirious and  to  stand  in  need  of  persons  to  sit  up  with  him." 
(See  Dr.  Gibbons's  "Two  Discourses,  occasioned  by  the  Death 
of  President  Davies."  London,  1761.) 

In  the  spring  of  1748  "  he  began  to  recover,  though  he  looked 
upon  it  only  as  the  intermission  of  a  disorder  that  would  finally 
prove  mortal.  Many  earnest  applications  were  made  for  his 
pastoral  services.  The  one  from  Hanover,  signed  by  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  heads  of  families,  came  with  renewed 
importunity,  and,  aided  by  the  voice  of  the  living  messenger 
despatched  by  the  people  to  urge  their  call,  moved  his  heart." 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


223 


He  accepted  their  call,  "  hoping,"  as  he  himself  expresses  it,  "I 
might  live  to  prepare  the  way  for  some  more  useful  successor, 
and  willing  to  expire  under  the  fatigues  of  duty  rather  than  in 
voluntary  negligence." 

"  It  is  scarcely  possible,"  says  Dr.  Foote,  "  for  a  missionary 
to  have  gone  to  Virginia  in  circumstances  better  calculated  to 
make  an  impression  in  favor  of  the  gospel  which  he  preached. 
In  his  domestic  afflictions  and  bodily  weakness  Davies  felt  the 
sentence  of  death  gone  out  and  already  in  execution.  His  soul 
burned  with  the  desire  of  usefulness,  and  his  tongue  uttered 
the  earnest  persuasions  of  a  spirit  that  would  reconcile  man  to 
God,  and  lay  some  trophies  at  the  Redeemer's  feet,  before  his 
lips  should  be  locked  up  in  the  grave.  He  longed  to  carry  with 
him  to  the  heavens  some  gems  for  the  eternal  crown.  The  peo- 
ple of  Hanover  were  ready  for  an  elevated  spirit  to  lead  them 
on  through  common  and  uncommon  difficulties,  through  trials 
incident  to  all  men,  and  the  trials  peculiar  to  their  situation  from 
the  laws  of  the  province,  complaints,  ridicule,  indictments,  fines, 
and  heavy  costs  of  court,  to  virtue  and  eternal  life."  (Foote's 
"Sketches  of  Virginia,"  page  163.) 

In  his  second  visit  to  Virginia  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
fellow-student  and  earnest  friend  the  Rev.  John  Rodgers,  who 
later  in  life  was  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  New 
York.  But,  not  being  able  to  obtain  a  license  from  the  General 
Court,  Mr.  Rodgers  tarried  only  for  a  short  time,  and  Mr.  Davies 
was  left  alone  to  minister  to  the  Dissenters  in  Hanover  and  the 
adjacent  counties.  The  different  congregations  or  assemblies 
to  which  he  ministered  were  scattered  over  a  large  district  of 
country,  not  less  than  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  the  licensed 
places  for  preaching,  of  which  there  were  seven,  were,  the  near- 
est, twelve  or  fifteen  miles  apart.  A  license  for  Mr.  Davies 
to  preach,  at  a  house  to  be  erected  for  the  purpose  in  the 
county  of  New  Kent,  granted  by  the  court  of  that  county,  was 
revoked  by  the  General  Court,  which  claimed  exclusive  juris- 
diction in  this  matter.  The  vexations  to  which  Dissenters  in 
Virginia  were  subjected  at  this  time — a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  years  ago — would  seem  incredible  were  it  not  a  thing  of 
unquestionable  record.  As  the  religious  teacher  of  his  people, 


224        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  also  as  the  advocate  and  defender  of  their  civil  rights  and 
religious  liberties,  Mr.  Davies  labored  with  untiring  diligence. 
He  preached  with  a  power  that  attracted  the  attention  of  both 
friends  and  opponents ;  and  before  the  court  he  maintained,  in 
opposition  to  the  Attorney-General  of  the  Province,  and  with 
an  ability  which  elicited  the  commendation  of  the  members  of 
the  bar,  the  rights  of  the  Dissenters  in  Virginia  to  all  the  con- 
cessions in  the  English  Act  of  Toleration.  He  wrote  to  the  well- 
known  Dr.  Doddridge,  of  England,  and  solicited  and  obtained 
his  aid  in  bringing  to  the  notice  of  the  Bishop  of  London  the 
hardships  to  which  the  Dissenters  were  subjected  by  what  he 
regarded  as  the  false  interpretation  given  to  the  "  Toleration 
Act"  as  in  force  in  England  and  Wales.  Dr.  Doddridge's  ill 
health  prevented  his  pursuing  the  subject  beyond  sending  to 
Mr.  Davies  the  answer  of  the  Bishop,  and  copies  of  some  ex- 
tracts from  letters  sent  to  the  Bishop  from  the  friends  of  Epis- 
copacy in  England. 

To  the  Bishop's  letter  to  Dr.  Doddridge  Mr.  Davies  prepared 
an  elaborate  reply,  in  which  he  argues  at  great  length,  and  with 
much  force,  against  the  position  assumed  by  the  Bishop,  and 
the  charges  insinuated  against  himself  in  the  letters  sent  to  his 
Lordship.  This  reply  Mr.  Davies  sent  to  Mr.  Mauduit,  of  Lon- 
don, to  be  communicated  to  Drs.  Avery  and  Doddridge,  leaving 
it  to  their  discretion  whether  to  forward  it  to  the  Bishop  or  not. 
Dr.  Doddridge  died  before  the  letter  reached  England,  and  Dr. 
Avery  and  Mr.  Mauduit  decided  against  sending  it;  and  Dr. 
Avery  so  informed  Mr.  Davies.  The  length  of  the  letter  he 
regarded  as  a  serious  objection  to  it,  and  one  which  he  thought 
was  sure  to  prevent  its  consideration,  and  even  the  reading  of 
it,  by  the  prelate  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Another  reason 
assigned  by  Dr.  Avery  for  coming  to  the  decision  he  did  was 
the  fact,  that,  in  replying  to  a  statement  made  by  the  Bishop, 
in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Doddridge,  that  the  non-conformists  of  New 
England  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  appointing  of  two  or 
three  Bishops  for  the  Plantations,  as  those  Provinces  were  then 
called,  although  the  Bishops  were  to  have  no  jurisdiction  except 
over  the  clergy  of  their  own  Church,  Mr.  Davies  says  that  in  the 
Synod  of  which  he  is  a  member  he  never  heard  of  an  objection 


MEMOIR    OF   THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


22$ 


to  the  appointment  of  Bishops  for  the  purpose  mentioned  in 
his  Lordship's  letter,  and  that  he  was  extremely  surprised  at 
the  information  received  by  his  Lordship  concerning  the  recep- 
tion of  this  proposal  by  the  non-conformists  in  New  England, 
and  that  they  used  all  their  influence  to  obstruct  it.  And  Mr. 
Davies  adds,  "  I  never  had  the  least  intimation  of  it  before, 
although  some  of  the  principal  ministers  maintain  a  very  unre- 
served correspondence  with  me,  and  I  have  also  the  other 
usual  methods  of  receiving  intelligence  from  a  country  so  near. 
If  it  be  true,  I  think  with  your  Lordship  that  it  was  hardly 
consistent  with  a  spirit  of  toleration ;"  and  more  in  a  like  strain. 
In  writing  to  Mr.  Davies  the  reasons  why  Mr.  Mauduit  and 
himself  agreed  that  it  was  not  advisable  to  send  to  his  Lordship 
Mr.  Davies's  letter,  Dr.  Avery  says: 

"  I  shall  not  enter  into  any  debate  with  you  concerning  the  scheme  proposed  for 
erecting  a  Bishoprick  in  North  America.  The  less  said  on  that  head,  either  on 
your  side  or  on  our  side  of  the  water,  I  believe  the  better.  But  one  thing  in  yours, 
addressed  to  his  lordship,  greatly  surprised  me.  You  represent  your  friends  in 
North  America,  particularly  in  New  York,  Virginia,  and  Massachusetts,  as  far  as 
your  correspondence  reaches,  if  not  as  desiring,  yet  as  willing  to  acquiesce,  Ln  having 
such  an  ecclesiastical  superior  officer  sent  over  to  America,  with  power  to  ordain, 
confirm,  &c.  Now  all  my  accounts  from  Connecticut,  the  Jerseys,  and  Massa- 
chusetts directly  and  strongly  contradict  this.  They  uniformly  speak  of  it  as  a 
measure  quite  inconsistent  with  their  peace  and  tranquillity.  From  both  the  minis- 
try and  laity  in  these  colonies  I  have  received  thanks  for  doing  the  little  I  did  do, 
or  could  do,  to  prevent  so  sore  a  calamity  as  that  seemed  likely  to  prove  to  the  col- 
onies. These  I  have  had  from  many  quarters ;  and  some  of  them  expressed  in 
strong  and  irritating  terms.  Yours  to  his  lordship  is  the  first  letter  I  have  seen  from 
those  parts  expressing  a  desire,  or  so  much  as  an  indifference  and  coolness,  on  that 
head.  This  must  be  my  excuse  for  not  forwarding  your  letter  to  his  lordship; 
though  on  several  other  accounts,  on  which  I  cannot  enlarge,  I  should  not  have 
thought  it  proper  to  be  put  into  his  hands." 

The  admirable  good  sense  and  great  modesty  of  Davies,  as 
well  as  his  truly  catholic  spirit,  are  manifest  in  his  reply  to  Dr. 
Avery's  letter  informing  him  why  his  letter  to  the  Bishop  of 
London  was  not  forwarded  to  that  prelate,  as  will  appear  from 
the  following  extract : 

"  Since  I  received  yours  I  have  been  uneasy  lest  my  letter  to  his  lordship  should 
be  put  into  his  hands  without  your  approbation,  as  my  sentiments  therein  expressed, 
concerning  the  mission  of  bishops  to  North  America,  were  different  from  yours  in 
your  letter  to  me.  When  I  expressed  my  satisfaction  in  the  proposal,  I  spake  in  the 


226        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

simplicity  of  my  heart  and  according  to  my  judgment,  which  I  have  had  no  reason 
to  alter  since,  but  only  your  dissent,  in  which  I  put  implicit  confidence,  as  you  have 
better  opportunities  to  discover  the  consequences  of  such  missions  than  I.  That 
the  settlement  of  bishops  in  the  dissenting  colonies  would  be  injurious  to  them  I 
can  easily  see;  but  I  find  by  the  Bishop  of  London's  letter  to  Dr.  Doddridge  that 
this  was  not  proposed.  And  I  was  not  able  to  discern  what  injury  the  settlement 
of  a  bishop  in  Virginia  or  Maryland,  where  the  Church  of  England  is  established, 
would  be  to  the  few  dissenters  in  them,  and  I  was  not  without  hopes  it  might  tend 
to  purge  out  the  corrupt  leaven  from  the  established  church,  and  restrain  the  clergy 
from  their  extravagances,  who  now  behave  as  they  please,  and  promise  themselves 
impunity,  as  there  is  none  to  censure  or  depose  them  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
However,  dear  sir,  if  you  think  me  mistaken,  you  may  take  what  measure  you  think 
proper  to  prevent  any  ill  consequences  that  may  be  occasioned  by  the  unreserved 
declaration  of  my  opinion  in  my  letter  to  his  lordship.  And  as  I  shall  hereafter 
impose  upon  you  the  trouble  of  rescinding  and  reviewing  the  papers  I  may  find 
occasion  to  transmit  to  England  on  the  affairs  of  the  dissenters  in  Virginia,  I  not 
only  allow,  but  request  you,  sir,  to  correct  or  suppress  them  as  your  superior  judg- 
ment may  direct  you.  As  I  judge  the  matter  is  of  great  importance  to  the  interests 
of  religion  in  this  colony,  I  would  not  willingly  incur  guilt  by  omitting  any  means 
in  my  power  to  reflect  light  upon  it;  but  for  want  of  judgment  and  a  more  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  state  of  affairs  in  England,  I  may  sometimes  fail  in  the  right 
choice  or  prudent  use  of  means  for  that  purpose,  and  therefore,  to  prevent  any  ill 
consequences,  I  must  call  in  the  assistance  of  your  judgment  and  that  of  the  Com- 
mittee." 

The  committee  here  mentioned  was  one  which  was  charged 
with  the  duty  of  looking  after  the  interest  of  the  Dissenters  in 
all  matters  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Government  or  Court. 
Of  this  committee,  as  appears  from  Mr.  Davies's  journal  while 
he  was  in  England,  Dr.  Avery  was  for  thirty  years  or  more  a 
prominent  and  active  member. 

It  was  at  this  period,  and  not  during  Mr.  Davies's  visit  to 
England,  as  has  been  said  in  some  sketches  of  his  life,  that  he 
obtained  the  opinion  of  Sir  Dudley  Ryder,  the  Attorney-General 
of  England,  sustaining  his  view  of  the  rights  of  the  Dissenters 
under  the  Toleration  Act.*  This  legal  opinion  was  obtained  by 
Dr.  Avery,  chairman  of  the  above-named  committee,  who  sent 
a  copy  of  it  with  the  letter  from  which  the  above  extract  was 

*  It  was  Sir  Dudley  Ryder's  opinion,  that  under  the  Act  of  Toleration  Dissenters 
might  ask  for  the  licensure  of  as  many  houses  as  they  thought  necessary,  without 
faar  of  refusal,  and  also  that  this  interpretation  of  the  Act  extended  to  Virginia. 
Whereas  the  Governor  and  Council  claimed  the  right  to  determine  the  number  of 
houses  of  worship  to  be  allowed  the  Dissenters.  And  the  Bishop  of  London  favored 
this  claim  of  the  civil  authorities  in  that  Province. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


227 


taken,  in  order  that  Mr.  Davies  might  lay  it  before  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  Virginia. 

"  Here,"  says  Dr.  Foote,  "  the  matter  rested  till  Mr.  Davies 
visited  England.  After  his  return  from  England  he  received 

two  letters  from  the  committee They  show  the  interest 

taken  in  the  cause  of  the  Dissenters  in  Virginia  by  the  Dis- 
senters in  England,  and  that  all  hope  of  redress  from  civil 
authority  lay  in  an  appeal  to  the  King." 

The  labors  of  Mr.  Davies  challenge  our  admiration.  They 
were  in  season  and  out  of  season.  Not  only  did  he  watch  for 
the  spiritual  good  of  his  hearers,  residents  of  Hanover  and  of 
four  contiguous  counties,  preaching  statedly  at  the  seven  differ- 
ent licensed  houses,  and  carry  on  an  extensive  correspondence 
with  prominent  ministers  at  home  and  abroad,  but  he  found 
time  to  attend  the  meetings  of  Presbytery  and  Synod,  to  make 
missionary  tours  in  the  counties  of  Cumberland,  Powhatan, 
Prince  Edward,  Charlotte,  Campbell,  Nottaway,  and  Amelia, 
and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  the  erection  of  churches  in  these 
counties,  and  to  maintain,  as  we  have  seen,  the  religious  liber- 
ties of  his  people  against  the  bigotry  and  tyranny  of  their  op- 
pressors ;  and  all  this  before  attaining  the  age  of  thirty  years. 

The  following  extract,  taken  from  one  of  his  letters  to  Dr. 
Bellamy,  and  copied  from  Dr.  Green's  "  Notes,"  gives  no  doubt 
the  most  reliable  account  of  his  pastoral  labors  during  the  first 
three  years  of  his  ministry  in  Virginia: 

"In  October,  1748,  besides  the  four  meeting-houses  already  mentioned,  the 
people  petitioned  for  the  licensing  of  three  more,  which,  with  great  difficulty,  was  ob- 
tained. Among  these  seven  I  have  divided  my  time.  Three  of  them  lie  in  Hanover 
County,  the  other  four  in  the  counties  of  Henrico,  Caroline,  Louisa,  and  Gooch- 
land.  The  nearest  are  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  distant  from  each  other,  and  the 
extremes  about  forty.  My  congregation  is  extremely  dispersed ;  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  number  of  meeting-houses,  some  live  twenty,  some  thirty,  and  a  few  forty 
miles  from  the  nearest.  Were  they  all  compactly  situated  in  one  county,  they 
would  be  sufficient  to  form  three  distinct  congregations.  Many  of  the  church 
people  also  attend  when  there  is  a  sermon  at  any  of  these  houses.  This  I  looked 
upon,  at  first,  as  mere  curiosity  after  novelty ;  but  as  it  continues,  and  in  some 
places  seems  to  increase,  I  cannot  but  look  upon  it  as  a  happy  token  of  their  being 
at  length  thoroughly  engaged.  And  I  have  the  greater  reason  to  hope  so  now,  as 
experience  has  confirmed  my  former  hopes ;  fifty  or  sixty  families  having  thus  been 
happily  entangled  in  the  net  of  the  gospel  by  their  own  curiosity,  or  some  such 
motive.  There  are  three  hundred  communicants  in  my  congregation,  of  whom 


228        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

the  greatest  number  are,  in  the  judgment  of  rational  charity,  real  Christians;  be- 
sides some  who,  through  excessive  scrupulousness,  do  not  seek  admission  to  the 
Lord's  table. 

"  There  is  a  number  of  Negroes,  sometimes  I  see  a  hundred  or  more,  among  my 
hearers.  I  have  baptized  about  forty  of  them  within  these  three  years,  upon  such 
a  profession  of  faith  as  I  then  judged  credible.  Some  of  them,  I  fear,  have  aposta- 
tized, but  others,  I  trust,  will  persevere  to  the  end.  I  have  had  as  satisfying  evi- 
dence of  the  sincere  piety  of  several  of  them  as  I  ever  had  from  any  person  in 
my  life,  and  their  artless  simplicity,  their  passionate  aspirations  after  Christ,  their 
incessant  endeavors  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God,  have  charmed  me.  But,  alas ! 
while  my  charge  is  so  extensive  I  cannot  take  sufficient  pains  with  them  for  their 
instruction,  which  often  oppresses  my  heart.  There  have  been  instances  of  un- 
happy apostasy  among  us ;  but,  blessed  be  God,  not  many  in  proportion  to  the 
number  brought  under  concern.  At  present  there  are  a  few  under  promising 
impressions,  but  in  general  security  prevails,"  etc. 

"  The  home  of  Mr.  Davies,"  says  President  Green,  "  was  in  the  county  of  Han- 
over, about  twelve  miles  from  Richmond ;  but  his  occasional  labors  were  extended 
through  a  considerable  part  of  the  Colony,  and  he  acquired  an  influence  greater, 
probably,  than  any  other  preacher  of  the  gospel  in  Virginia  ever  possessed.  It  was 
the  influence  of  fervent  piety  and  zeal  directed  by  a  mind  of  uncommon  compass 
and  force.  He  took  pains  to  instruct  the  negroes,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
them  were  seals  of  his  ministry.  Till  this  day  [1822]  many  of  the  descendants 
of  his  negro  converts  manifest  the  happy  effects  of  the  pious  instructions  and  ex- 
ample of  their  parents." 

In  the  autumn  of  1752  the  Synod  of  New  York  held  their 
sessions  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  the  day  after  the  College  Com- 
mencement. Mr.  Davies  was  present  at  the  meetings  of  the 
Synod,  and  on  this  occasion  he  met  President  Edwards,  who 
was  on  a  visit  to  his  son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr.  Writing 
to  a  gentleman  in  Scotland  under  the  date  of  November  24  of 
that  year,  Mr.  Edwards  says,  "  When  I  was  lately  in  New 
Jersey,  in  the  time  of  the  Synod  there,  ...  I  then  had  the 
comfort  of  a  short  interview  with  Mr.  Davies,  of  Virginia, 
and  was  much  pleased  with  him  and  his  conversation.  He 
appears  to  be  a  man  of  very  solid  understanding,  discreet  in 
his  behavior,  and  polished  and  gentlemanly  in  his  manners, 
as  well  as  fervent  and  zealous  in  religion."  High  praise  from  a 
high  source !  No  doubt  this  interview  confirmed  the  exalted 
opinion  Mr.  Davies  had  of  the  great  talents,  learning,  and  piety 
of  Mr.  Edwards,*  and  increased  his  desire  that  Mr.  Edwards 

*  In  his  farewell  sermon  to  his  people  in  Hanover  he  speaks  of  Edwards  "  as 
the  profoundest  reasoner  and  the  greatest  divine  that  America  has  ever  produced." 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


229 


upon  leaving  Northampton  should  remove  to  Virginia,  and 
to  effect  which  he  labored  with  his  wonted  promptness  and 
assiduity.  But  Mr.  Edwards  removed  to  Stockbridge,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  his  connection  there  with  the  Indian  missions 
prevented  his  entertaining  the  earnest  solicitation  of  Mr.  Davies 
and  his  friends,  that  he  should  come  to  Virginia  and  settle 
there,  where  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of  himself  and 
family  was  promised,  and,  we  may  add,  was  virtually  secured. 

In  the  account  given  of  President  Burr's  administration, 
chapter  vi.,  mention  was  made  of  the  fact  that,  at  the  request 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent  and  Davies  visited  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  to  solicit  funds 
in  aid  of  the  College,  and  more  especially  for  the  erection  of 
suitable  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  officers  and  the 
students.  Mention  was  also  made  of  the  great  success  of  their 
mission,  whereby  ample  funds  were  obtained  for  the  erection  of 
the  edifice  known  as  "  Nassau  Hall,"  and  for  the  building  of 
the  President's  house,  and  the  foundation  of  the  charitable  fund 
of  the  College,  which  by  several  bequests  in  later  times  was 
much  augmented,  and  has  done  a  great  work  in  opening  the 
way  for  the  liberal  education  of  poor  and  pious  young  men  who 
were  willing  and  even  desirous  to  devote  themselves  to  the  gospel 
ministry.  Of  these  matters  we  shall  not  here  speak  further; 
but  of  Mr.  Davies's  visit  to  England  and  Scotland,  of  his  preach- 
ing, and  of  the  numerous  and  valuable  acquaintances  formed 
by  him  while  abroad,  and  of  the  deep  impression  which  he 
made  upon  the  minds  of  those  with  whom  he  came  into  con- 
tact, it  is  both  proper  and  just  that  something  should  be  said 
in  a  sketch  like  this. 

Having  agreed  to  accompany  Mr.  Tennent  in  this  agency  in 
behalf  of  the  College,  in  case  the  Synod  of  New  York  should 
approve  of  his  so  doing,  Mr.  Davies  left  Hanover  on  Monday, 
the  3d  of  September,  1753,  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  Synod 
of  New  York,  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the 
early  part  of  October,  and  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity 
to  confer  with  the  College  authorities  and  to  make  the  requi- 
site preparations  for  his  voyage  to  England.  His  memorandum 
under  the  date  of  September  3,  1753,  is  in  these  words: 


230        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  This  morning  I  felt  the  painful  rupture  of  the  tender  relative  ties  which  bind 
me  to  Hanover.  I  took  my  leave  of  some  thousands  yesterday  in  public,  and 
to-day  I  parted  with  some  select  friends,  and  my  dear,  dear  spouse,  my  honored 
parents,  and  three  helpless  children,  and  left  them  in  tears.  To  thee,  O  Lord,  I 
then  solemnly  committed  them,  and  now  I  renew  the  dedication.  I  know  not  that 
I  shall  ever  see  them  again,  but  my  life  and  theirs  are  in  the  hands  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  therefore  shall  be  preserved  as  long  as  is  fit,"  etc. 

On  his  way  to  Philadelphia  and  Newark,  Mr.  Davies  spent 
several  days  at  the  house  of  his  friend,  and  his  successor  in  the 
office  of  President  of  the  College,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  who 
was  then  residing  at  Nottingham,  Maryland.  Here  he  met  a 
committee  of  his  Presbytery,  and  in  conjunction  with  Messrs. 
Finley,  Roan,  and  (Robert)  Smith,  revised  and  corrected  a 
draft  drawn  up  by  Mr.  (John)  Blair,  of  a  warning  or  testimony 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  (New  Side)  against  several 
errors  and  evil  practices  of  Mr.  John  Cuthbertson,  a  native  of 
Scotland.* 

The  five  members  of  the  Presbytery  here  mentioned  all 
became  men  of  note;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  two  of 
them,  viz.,  Davies  and  Finley,  were,  some  years  after,  Presidents 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  that  Mr.  Blair  was  the  first 
prominent  Vice-President  and  Professor  in  the  College,  and  that 
Dr.  Robert  Smith  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  S.  Smith, 
the  seventh  President  of  the  College.  From  Nottingham  he 
went  to  Fagg's  Manor  to  see  Mrs.  Blair,  the  widow  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Blair,  his  venerated  teacher,  under  whose  guidance  he 
was  prepared  for  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  of  whom 
he  speaks  in  this  connection  as  "  the  great  Mr.  Blair,"  and  else- 
where as  "the  incomparable  Mr.  Blair."  On  the  i$th  of  Sep- 
tember he  reached  Philadelphia,  and  was  kindly  received  by 
Mr.  Tennent  and  his  other  friends  there.  Upon  visiting  his 
dear  and  valuable  friend  Captain  Grant  of  that  city,  he  was 

*  The  errors  on  which  the  Presbytery  animadvert  are  these :  "  That  God  has 
made  over  Christ  and  all  his  benefits  to  all  that  hear  the  gospel  by  a  deed  of 
gift  (as  he  affects  to  speak),  so  that  every  sinner  that  hears  the  gospel  offer  ought 
to  put  in  a  claim  of  right  to  him  as  his  Saviour  in  particular.  That  saving  faith 
consists  in  a  persuasion  that  Christ  is  mine,  and  that  he  died  for  me  in  particular. 
That  redemption  is  universal  as  to  purchase.  That  civil  government,  both  heathen 
and  Christian,  is  derived  from  Christ  as  mediator." 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


231 


shown  a  letter  received  by  that  gentleman  from  Mr.  De  Berdt, 
of  London,  in  which  was  the  following  sentence : 

"  That  the  principles  inculcated  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey  are  generally 
looked  upon  as  antiquated  and  unfashionable  by  the  Dissenters  in  England."  "  A 
dismal  omen,"  adds  Mr.  Davies,  "to  our  embassy,  and,  I  fear,  to  the  interests 
of  religion." 

He  reached  Newark  on  the  following  Thursday,  "  and  was  re- 
ceived with  much  affection  by  the  worthy  President,"  and  was 
honored  with  a  visit  and  with  free  conversation  with  his  Excel- 
lency the  Governor,  and  on  the  next  day  he  waited  on  Gover- 
nor Belcher,  at  Elizabethtown,  in  company  with  President  Burr 
and  his  lady.  The  Governor  treated  him  with  marked  atten- 
tion, and  insisted  upon  his  preaching  for  Mr.  Spencer,  pastor 
of  the  church  in  that  town,  which  he  did  on  Sunday,  the  3Oth 
of  September.  On  the  preceding  Sabbath  he  preached  twice 
in  Newark ;  and  he  also  heard  President  Burr  preach  a  fare- 
well sermon  to  the  candidates  for  a  degree  at  the  Commence- 
ment to  take  place  on  Wednesday  of  that  week.  Mr.  Burr's 
text  was,  "  And  now,  my  son,  the  Lord  be  with  thee  and  pros- 
per thee."  "And  I  was  amazed,"  says  Mr.  Davies,  "to  see  how 
readily  good  sense  and  accurate  language  flowed  from  him  ex- 
tempore. The  sermon  was  affecting  to  me,  and  might  have 
been  to  the  students." 

On  Commencement-day  Mr.  Davies  delivered  a  thesis  (Per- 
sonales  Distinctiones  in  Trinitate  sunt  aeternae),  and  vindicated 
it  against  the  opponents,  and  afterwards  was  honored  with  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

While  in  Newark,  he  spent  a  part  of  his  time  in  drawing  up 
a  petition  from  the  Synod  of  New  York  to  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Upon  leaving  Newark,  he 
visited  New  York,  and  Elizabethtown,  took  leave  of  Governor 
Belcher,  lodged  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd,  who 
had  succeeded  his  brother,  David  Brainerd,  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Indians,  at  or  near  Cranbury,  and  visited  the  Indian 
town  or  settlement.  He  then  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  to 
attend  the  Synod,  which  convened  in  that  city  on  Wednes- 
day, the  3d  of  October.  On  Friday  evening  he  heard  Mr.. 
Bostwick  preach,  and  inserts  in  his  journal  this  remark  re- 


232        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

specting  him :  "  He  has,  I  think,  the  best  style  extempore  of 
any  man  I  ever  heard."  * 

Mr.  Davies  preached  several  times  in  Philadelphia,  and  oc- 
casionally in  neighboring  places,  while  waiting  for  the  sailing 
of  the  vessel  in  which  he  and  his  associate,  the  Rev.  Gilbert 
Tennent,  were  to  take  their  passage.  And  during  this  period 
he  found  time  to  attend  a  meeting  of  his  Presbytery  at  Fagg's 
Manor,  and  to  visit  his  intimate  friend  the  Rev.  John  Rodgers, 
at  St.  George's,  Delaware.  The  delay  in  the  sailing  of  the 
vessel  was  a  severe  trial  to  his  patience,  and  the  more  so  from 
the  circumstance  that  it  was  probable  that  it  would  add  much 
to  the  discomforts  of  the  voyage,  which  proved  to  be  the  case. 
The  pilot  did  not  leave  the  ship  until  the  afternoon  of  the  iSth 
of  November,  and  it  was  not  until  the  25th  of  December  that 
the  fellow-voyagers  reached  the  city  of  London.  The  vessel 
having  ascended  the  Thames,  they  landed  near  London  bridge, 
and  were  conducted  to  the  house  of  Mr.  De  Berdt,  the  gentle- 
man named  above  as  a  correspondent  of  Captain  Grant,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  of  whom  Mr.  Davies  says  in  his  journal  that 
he  "  is  a  most  amiable,  pious  gentleman,  and  entertained  us 
very  kindly  till  we  could  provide  a  lodging." 

Mr.  Whitefield  very  promptly  and  kindly  invited  them  to 
make  his  house  their  home ;  but  upon  consultation  with  some 
other  friends  they  deemed  it  expedient  to  decline  his  generous 
offer,  and  to  take  lodgings  and  board  in  a  private  boarding- 
house;  which  they  did.  Not  only  by  this  eminent  preacher 
but  by  sundry  other  of  the  leading  non-conformists  were  they 
courteously  received  and  entertained.  Prominent  among  these 
were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stennet,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  to  whose 
kind  offices  they  were  indebted  for  much  of  their  success  in 
London;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibbons,  minister  of  the  Independent 
congregation  at  Haberdashers'  Hall,  and  Mr.  Davies's  corre- 
spondent, and  who  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Davies  published 
a  volume  of  his  sermons,  with  a  sketch  of  the  author's  life. 

*  Mr.  Bostwick  was  at  this  time  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Jamaica, 
Long  Island,  and  in  1755  he  removed  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  took  charge 
pi  the  Presbyterian  church  in  that  city.  In  1761  he  was  chosen  a  Trustee  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  held  this  office  till  his  death. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


233 


Of  these  two  distinguished  preachers  Mr.  Davies  makes  fre- 
quent mention,  expressive  of  his  high  respect,  and  of  his  great 
indebtedness  to  them.  In  his  "  Diary,"  under  the  date  of  Jan- 
uary 8,  1754,  a  fortnight  after  his  arrival  in  London,  he  makes 
this  entry: 

"  Dined  at  Mr.  Elea/er  Edwards's,  ...  of  the  Baptist  persuasion.  Here  we 
enjoyed  Mr.  Stennet's  company,  and  his  son's.  He  is  a  judicious,  prudent,  and 
candid  gentleman,  and  has  more  influence  in  court  than  any  dissenting  minister  in 
London.  Mr.  Tennent  having  visited  Mr.  Partridge,  the  Agent  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  advised  to  apply  to  some  of  the  court,  particularly  to  the  Lord  Chancellor, 
Lord  Halifax,  and  Mr.  Pelham  [the  Prime  Minister],  and  he  seemed  inclined  to 
do  it.  But  to  me  it  appeared  very  doubtful ;  I  was  afraid,  in  case  the  College  should 
be  discountenanced  by  them,  they  would  find  some  flaw  in  the  charter,  and  so 
overset  it ;  and  that  a  refusal  at  court  would  have  a  bad  influence  upon  those  who 
otherwise  might  contribute  towards  it.  We  consulted  Mr.  Stennet,  and  he  was 
fully  of  my  mind." 

Mr.  Stennet  accompanied  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  to  the 
Duke  of  Argyle's  when  they  went  to  deliver  to  his  Grace  the 
letter  for  him  given  to  them  by  Governor  Belcher.  The  Duke 
having  advised  them  to  call  upon  Lord  Halifax,  or  Lord  Duplin, 
both  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations, Mr.  Stennet  went  for  them  to  Lord  Duplin  and  con- 
sulted him  in  confidence,  and  his  Lordship  assured  Mr.  Stennet 
that  he  would  do  nothing  to  their  injury. 

On  the  day  after  their  arrival  in  London  they  were  visited,  says 
Mr.  Davies,  "by  a  venerable  old  gentleman,  Mr.  Hall,  author 
of  some  of  the  '  Lime  Street  Sermons,'  who  seems  to  be  of  a 
true  puritanic  spirit  and  full  of  religion;"  by  Mr.  Gibbons,  "my 
dear  correspondent,  who  informed  us  of  the  general  apostasy  of 
the  Dissenters  from  the  principles  of  the  Reformation;"  and  by 
"good  Mr.  Cruttenden,  who  sent  me  over  ten  pound  sterling 
worth  of  books  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor  in  Virginia."  * 

*  This  last-named  gentleman,  Mr.  Robert  Cruttenden,  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster 
thinks  (see  note  to  page  557  of  his  History)  -was,  probably  the  friend  who  suggested 
to  Mr.  Davies,  after  his  return  from  England,  a  plan  for  obtaining,  if  practicable, 
some  three  or  four  young  Africans,  who  still  retained  their  native  language,  were 
pious,  and  of  good  abilities,  to  be  educated  at  the  College  of  New  Jersey  for  mis- 
sionaries. Whether  Mr.  Davies  availed  himself  of  this  suggestion  is  not  known. 
But  nearly  twenty  years  after,  the  well-known  Dr.  Samuel  Hopkins,  a  pupil  of  the 
Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  his  first  biographer,  adopted  a  like  scheme,  and  in 
VOL.  I. — 16 


234        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

In  the  prosecution  of  their  work  they  called  upon  all  or 
nearly  all  the  Dissenting  ministers  in  London  and  its  vicinity, 
and  in  general  they  were  kindly  received  and  encouraged, 
although  not  a  few  of  these  ministers  had  no  sympathy  what- 
ever with  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  in  their  religious  views 
and  feelings,  being  tainted  with  anti-Calvinistic  and  latitudina- 
rian  principles.  The  diversity  of  views  among  the  Dissenters 
was  a  source  of  no  small  embarrassment  to  these  agents  of 
the  College;  and  on  this  head  Mr.  Davies  makes  this  remark: 

"  There  are  so  many  parties  here  that  it  is  very  perplexing  to  us  to  know  how  to 
behave  so  as  to  avoid  offence,  and  not  to  injure  the  business  of  our  embassy.  The 
Independents  and  Baptists  are  more  generally  Calvinists  than  the  Presbyterians, 
though  I  fear  some  of  them  are  tainted  with  Antinomianism." 

By  Mr.  Chandler,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  much  note,  they 
were  advised  to  represent,  in  their  petition  for  the  College,  that 
it  would  be  of  use  "to  keep  a  sense  of  religion  among  the  Ger- 
man Protestant  emigrants  settled  in  the  British  plantations,  to 
instruct  their  children  in  the  principles  of  our  common  Chris- 
tianity, and  to  instruct  them  in  the  knowledge  of  the  English 
language,  that  they  may  be  incorporated  with  the  rest  of  his 
Majesty's  subjects."  Mr.  Davies  adds,  "  Mr.  T.  approved  of 
the  addition,  but  I  could  not  help  scrupling  it,  because  the  Col- 
lege is  not  immediately  intended  to  teach  the  English  language ; 
but  I  submitted."  They  finally,  however,  determined  to  "  soften 
the  terms  in  the  clause  about  the  German  Protestants."  On 
the  day  following  that  of  their  call  upon  Mr.  Chandler,  viz.,  on 
January  19,  1754,  they  "were  sent  for  by  a  company  of  lords 
and  gentlemen  who  have  the  disposal  of  the  money  lately  given 
by  the  King  for  the  support  of  schools  among  the  Germans  in 
Pennsylvania."  "  Mr.  Chandler,"  adds  Mr.  Davies,  "who  is  the 
Company's  Secretary,  introduced  our  affairs,  and  our  petition 

conjunction  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  Stiles,  afterwards  President  of  Yale,  formed 
the  design  to  prepare  two  African  youths,  members  of  his  church  in  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  for  preaching  the  gospel  in  Western  Africa.  That  they  might  be 
prepared  for  their  missionary  work,  it  was  judged  expedient  to  send  them  to  Prince- 
ton, New  Jersey,  to  be  for  a  season  under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon. 
How  long  they  continued  here,  and  what  proficiency  they  made  in  their  studies,  are 
matters  respecting  which  we  have  no  record.  (See  Dr.  Alexander's  "  History  of 
Colonization,"  pages  48—523.) 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DAV1ES. 


235 


was  read.  There  was  no  time  to  consider  it,  and  it  was  deferred 
until  their  next  meeting."  It  does  not  appear  that  the  petition 
was  ever  again  brought  before  them  for  consideration;  but  Mr. 
Chandler  himself  gave  it  his  countenance  and  recommendation, 
as  did  some  sixty  or  more  of  the  Dissenting  ministers,  includ- 
ing Baptists,  Independents,  and  Presbyterians.  Among  these 
are  some  of  the  well-known  scholars  of  that  day, — e.g.,  Rev. 
Drs.  Lardner,  Jennings,  Guyse,  Benson,  Price,  and  Milner.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Chandler,  spoken  of  above  as  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Chandler,  was  an  eminent  scholar,  and  he  had  the  happiness  to 
number  among  his  pupils  Archbishop  Seeker  and  Bishop  But- 
ler. His  sermons  were  published  in  four  volumes  quarto,  and 
as  early  as  1725  he  published  his  "Vindication  of  the  Christian 
Religion." 

There  was  danger  at  one  time  that  Mr.  Chandler  would  dis- 
countenance the  efforts  of  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies,  a  copy 
of  Mr.  Tennent's  famous  Nottingham  Sermon  having  been 
placed  in  his  hand,  with  this  very  end  in  view,  through  the 
agency  of  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  But  upon 
receiving  a  full  explanation  of  all  the  facts,  Mr.  Chandler  signed 
their  petition.  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  waited  also  upon 
Mr.  Penn,  the  Proprietor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  were  kindly  re- 
ceived by  him ;  but  he  gave  them  no  encouragement,  regarding 
himself  as  under  peculiar  obligations  to  favor  the  Academy  in 
Philadelphia.  From  a  Mr.  Cromwell,  a  great-grandson  of  the 
Protector,  Mr.  Davies  received  three  guineas  for  the  College. 
Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies,  while  yet  in  London,  dined  with 
the  Marquis  of  Lothian,  and  at  dinner  met  Lord  Leven,  the 
King's  Commissioner  and  representative  at  the  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland.  These  noblemen 
favored  their  mission  and  encouraged  them  in  their  work. 

Mr.  Davies  was  frequently  invited  to  preach  by  the  Dissenting 
ministers  of  London,  and  he  was  repeatedly  urged  to  prepare  a 
volume  of  his  sermons  for  publication,  which  he  tells  us  he  had 
serious  thoughts  of  doing.  An  anecdote  has  been  very  current 
in  the  United  States  to  the  purport  that  on  one  occasion  his 
Majesty  George  the  Second  heard  Mr.  Davies  preach,  and 
that  he  was  so  delighted  with  the  eloquence  of  the  speaker  as 


236        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSE\. 

to  express  aloud  his  approval,  and  to  call  down  upon  himself  a 
reproof  for  his  interruption  of  the  service  ;  and  that  by  invita- 
tion Mr.  Davies  waited  upon  the  King  and  received  from  him 
a  handsome  donation  for  the  College.  There  is  not  the  least 
foundation  for  this  story.  His  "  Diary"  shows  beyond  all 
doubt  that  Mr.  Davies  never  saw  his  Majesty,  and  that  he  had 
no  desire  to  see  him  or  the  members  of  his  court,  lest  inquiry 
should  be  made  respecting  the  validity  of  the  charter  given 
to  the  College  by  Governor  Belcher,  and  the  character  of  the 
charter  essentially  altered,  if  not  totally  suppressed. 

Upon  leaving  London,  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  went 
directly  to  Edinburgh,  where  they  met  with  a  very  kind  recep- 
tion from  all  classes,  clergy  and  laity,  nobles  and  commoners. 

In  their  application  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  they  were  successful  beyond  all  expectation.  On 
Monday,  the  2/th  of  May,  their  petition  was  received  by  the 
Assembly,  and  it  was  agreed  to  without  an  objection  from 
any  one.  Their  cause  was  ably  advocated  by  Mr.  Lumsden, 
Professor  of  Theology  at  Aberdeen,  who,  without  any  confer- 
ence with  either  Mr.  Tennent  or  Mr.  Davies,  urged  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Assembly  to  promote  such  institutions  as  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  especially  among  the  Presbyte- 
rians in  the  Colonies.  Mr.  Lumsden  was  seconded  by  Mr. 
McLagan,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  an  act 
and  a  recommendation  for  a  national  collection.  Of  this  com- 
mittee Mr.  McLagan  was  a  member. 

"  The  approbation  of  the  General  Assembly,"  says  Mr.  Davies,  in  his  "  Diary," 
May  27,  1754,  "will  be  attended  with  many  happy  consequences;  particularly  it 
will  recommend  our  College  to  the  world,  and  wipe  off  the  odium  from  the  Syruxl 
of  New  York  as  a  parcel  of  schismatics." 

The  action  of  the  Assembly  was  the  more  pleasing  to  Messrs. 
Tennent  and  Davies,  from  the  circumstance  that  special  pains 
had  been  taken  by  one  or  more  of  the  members  of  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  to  excite  a  prejudice  against  their  mission  by 
means  of  a  letter  written  for  this  very  purpose,  and  by  the  dis- 
tribution of  copies  of  Mr.  Tennent's  Nottingham  Sermon.  Mr. 
Tennent  and  Mr.  Davies  waited  also  upon  the  Society  for 
Propagating  Christian  Knowledge,  of  which  the  Marquis  of 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


237 


Lothian  was  the  President,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Society 
gave  them  their  advice  as  to  the' best  method  of  conducting 
the  mission  among  the  Indians.  The  members  of  the  Society 
also  drew  up  a  letter  in  favor  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
to  be  annexed  to  the  Act  of  the  General  Assembly.  On  the 
same  day  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  dined  with  his  Grace  the 
Lord  Commissioner. 

From  Mr.  Davies's  journal,  it  appears  that  he  preached  in 
several  of  the  principal  churches  of  Edinburgh,  and  to  very 
crowded  auditories,  having  among  his  hearers  on  one  occasion 
the  Lord  Provost  and  the  Magistrates  of  the  city.  He  preached 
three  times  in  the  College  Kirk,  and  evidently  with  much  ac- 
ceptance, and  to  the  profit  of  not  a  few  of  his  hearers.  He  had 
every  reason  to  be  pleased  with  his  reception  in  Edinburgh, 
and  we  are  not  surprised  at  his  remark, — 

"  I  met  with  more  Christian  friendship  in  Edinburgh  than  anywhere  in  Great 
Britain.  There  is  too  general  a  decay  of  experimental  and  practical  religion,  and 
yet  there  is  a  considerable  number  of  pious  people  in  the  City."  (Davies's  Jour- 
nal, June  15,  1754.) 

Under  the  same  date  with  the  above  he  adds : 

"  I  find  a  great  number  of  the  clergy  and  laity  have  of  late  carried  church  power 
to  an  extravagant  height,  deny  to  individuals  the  right  of  judging  for  themselves, 
and  insist  upon  absolute  universal  obedience  to  all  the  determinations  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  I  heard  several  speeches  in  the  House  on  this  head  which  really 
surprised  me.  The  nobility  and  gentry,  who  are  lay  elders,  are  generally  high- 
flyers, and  have  encroached  upon  the  rights  of  the  people,  especially  in  the  choice 
of  their  ministers.  Violent  settlements  are  enjoined  by  the  authority  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  there  is  no  prospect  of  redress.  There  is  a  Piece  published, 
under  the  title  of  '  The  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,'  ascribed  to  one  Mr.  Weather- 
spoon  [Witherspoon],  a  young  minister.  It  is  a  burlesque  upon  the  high-flyers, 
under  the  name  of  moderate  men,  and  I  think  the  humor  is  nothing  inferior  to 
Dean  Swift." 

It  never  occurred  to  Mr.  Davies  while  penning  the  above 
sentence  that  this  "  one  Mr.  Weatherspoon"  would  ever  have 
any  connection  with  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  much  less  that 
they  would  both  be  Presidents  of  it ;  and  yet  within  fifteen 
years  from  this  time  they  both  were, — Mr.  Davies  from  1759  to 
1761,  and  Mr.  Witherspoon  from  1768  to  1794. 

After  spending  a  month  or  more  at  Edinburgh,  Mr.  Tennent 


238        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

left  for  Ireland,  to  present  the  cause  of  the  College  to  the  Irish 
Presbyterian  Synod,  and  Mr.  Davies  went  on  a  visit  to  Glas- 
gow, where  he  was  kindly  received  and  hospitably  entertained. 
The  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented  to  him,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  was  conferred  upon  Mr.  Tennent  and  Mr.  President  Burr, 
although  they  were  not  there.  Mr.  Davies  tarried  at  Glasgow 
about  ten  days,  and  preached  there  six  times.  He  formed  firm 
friendships  with  some  of  the  leading  ministers  of  that  city,  and 
more  especially  with  Mr.  Gillies, — afterwards  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gillies, 
— by  whom  some  of  his  letters  to  his  English  and  Scotch  cor- 
respondents were  preserved  and  published.  Upon  the  decease 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McLaurin,  another  of  his  Glasgow  friends,  he 
made  in  his  "  Diary"  the  following  entry :  "  That  city  has  lost 
one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  the  Church  of  Scotland  one  of 
its  most  excellent  ministers,  and  the  College  of  New  Jersey  one 
of  its  best  friends."  The  attentions  which  were  paid  to  him  in 
Glasgow  were  owing,  no  doubt,  in  part  to  the  circumstance  that 
Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  without  Mr.  Davies's  knowl- 
edge, had  kindly  commended  him  to  his  brother,  the  Provost  of 
the  city,  and  to  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCulloh,  at 
Cambuslang.  This  gentleman,  "  an  humble,  holy  minister  of 
Christ,"  as  Mr.  Davies  calls  him,  had  a  conversation  with  Mr. 
Davies  about  a  donation  of  two  hundred  pounds  for  propa- 
gating the  gospel  among  the  Indians. 

Mr.  Davies  also  visited  the  Rev.  John  Erskine,  of  Culross, 
afterwards  the  Rev.  Dr.  Erskine,  of  Grey  Friars'  Church,  Edin- 
burgh. This  distinguished  divine  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  College,  and  revised  and  prepared  for  the  press  a 
sermon  of  Mr.  Davies's  on  I  John  ii.  2,  and  published  it,  with  a 
preface  in  favor  of  the  College,  which,  says  Mr.  Davies,  "  has 
already  had  happy  effects  in  Braintree,  and  excited  sundry  to 
double  their  intended  benefactions."  At  the  place  named  resided 
Mr.  Samuel  Ruggles,  a  gentleman  of  wealth  and  of  great  liber- 
ality, who  first  subscribed  thirty  pounds  to  the  fund  for  the  Col- 
lege, and  who  subsequently  increased  his  subscription  and  made 
it  fifty  pounds. 

Upon  his  way  from  Edinburgh  to  London,  Mr.  Davies  stopped 
at  Durham,  and  waited  upon  his  Lordship  the  Bishop  of  that 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


239 


diocese.  This  right  reverend  prelate,  the  immediate  succes- 
sor of  the  eminent  scholar  Bishop  Butler,  "  gave  me,"  says 
Mr.  Davies,  "  a  condescending  reception.  He  particularly  in- 
quired whether  the  Church  of  England  had  any  share  in  the 
management  of  the  College,  complained  of  the  intolerant  prin- 
ciples of  the  Dissenters  in  New  England,  asked  me  if  I  had 
waited  upon  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  or  obtained  the 
consent  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  and  told  me  until  I  had  done  so  he  could  not  in  a  public 
character  do  anything  in  favor  of  the  design.  But  he  gave  me 
five  guineas  as  a  private  person;  which  afforded  me  no  small 
satisfaction,  as  it  may  open  the  door  for  further  benefactions  in 
the  Established  Church."  But  it  did  not 

Mr.  Davies  also  visited  Norwich  and  several  of  the  other 
larger  towns  and  cities  in  England.  He  reached  London  on  the 
1st  of  October,  and  found  there  a  letter  from  Mr.  Tennent,  in- 
forming him  that  Mr.  Tennent,  having  finished  his  applications 
in  the  west  of  England,  intended  to  come  to  London  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  prepare  to  embark  for  America. 

"  The  prospect  of  so  speedy  a  return  gave  me,"  says  Mr.  Davies,  "  no  small 
pleasure ;  but  the  prospect  of  a  winter  passage  was  very  shocking,  especially  as  I 
had  such  a  melancholy  time  in  my  last  voyage,  and  in  the  present  diffident  state  of 
my  mind  I  am  not  a  little  intimidated  at  the  dangers  of  the  ocean." 

Nor  is  his  state  of  mind  at  all  surprising,  in  view  of  the  perils 
then  attending  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  in  midwinter. 
Among  the  reasons  urged  by  the  friends  of  Episcopacy  in 
America  for  the  consecration  of  one  or  more  Bishops  in  this 
country  was  the  loss  of  life  on  the  part  of  the  candidates  who 
went  to  England  to  be  admitted  to  orders  by  the  Bishop  of 
London.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Bradbury  Chandler,  in  his 
Appeal,  asserts  that  one-fifth  of  all  who  had  gone  to  England 
for  ordination,  up  to  1767,  had  died  of  disease  or  had  been  lost 
at  sea. 

Mr.  Tennent  left  London  on  the  I3th  of  November,  in  a  ves- 
sel going  directly  to  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Davies  sailed  on  Fri- 
day, the  1 5th  of  the  same  month.  The  reasons  for  not  return- 
ing home  in  the  same  vessel  are  briefly  given  by  Mr.  Davies  in 
his  "Diary,"  under  the  date  of  November  18:  "The  impossi- 


240        HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

bility  of  getting  the  Trustees  together,  and  of  my  travelling 
home  by  land  from  Philadelphia,  determined  me,  with  Mr.  Ten- 
nent's  consent,  to  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  his  company  and 
sail  directly  for  Virginia,  that  I  may  the  sooner  see  my  earthly 
all  at  home."  After  a  long  and  tempestuous  voyage,  he  arrived 
at  York,  Virginia,  on  the  I3th  of  February,  1755,  and  reached 
his  own  home  on  Saturday,  the  1 5th  of  that  month,  "and  found 
all  well.  What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  good- 
ness ?" 

The  above  recital  gives  a  succinct  view  of  Mr.  Davies's  labors 
and  of  his  success  in  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  mission  in  be- 
half of  the  College;  but  it  gives  no  intimation  of  his  anxieties 
and  trials  occasioned  by  his  long  and  painful  separation  from 
his  family,  to  which  he  often  refers  in  expressions  of  earnest 
feeling.  Nor  has  any  mention  been  made  of  the  sudden  and 
threatening  attacks,  superinduced,  doubtless,  by  his  untiring 
and  arduous  labors,  one  of  which,  an  apoplectic  fit,  as  it  was  re- 
garded by  the  physician  in  attendance,  came  very  near  termi- 
nating his  life,  during  his  visit  to  the  city  of  Norwich,  in  the 
month  of  September,  1754. 

The  sums  of  money  collected  by  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies, 
although  far  exceeding  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  them- 
selves and  of  the  Trustees,  are  by  no  means  the  full  measure  of 
their  services  to  the  College  and  to  the  interests  of  religion  and 
learning  in  the  American  Colonies.  Their  mission  added  much 
to  the  reputation  and  the  usefulness  of  the  College,  and  turned 
the  attention  of  not  a  few  persons  of  influence  and  of  wealth  to 
the  great  importance  of  promoting  Christian  education  among 
all  classes  in  this  country.  Their  preaching,  and  more  espe- 
cially the  preaching  of  Mr.  Davies,  attracted  much  attention, 
and  doubtless  was  productive  of  much  good.  In  the  course  of 
the  eleven  months  which  Mr.  Davies  spent  in  England  and 
Scotland  he  preached  sixty  or  seventy  times,  and  he  was  earn- 
estly solicited,  in  conversation  and  by  letters,  to  publish  some 
of  these  discourses. 

While  he  diligently  and  successfully  prosecuted  the  work  of 
collecting  funds  for  the  College,  he  at  the  same  time  availed 
himself  of  every  opportunity  to  further  the  interests  of  his  Dis- 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


241 


senting  friends  in  Virginia,  and  to  secure  for  them  all  the  privi- 
leges conferred  by  the  Act  of  Toleration  upon  Dissenters  in 
England.  The  hope  that  he  might  accomplish  something  in 
this  line  was  a  strong  inducement  with  him  to  accede  to  the 
proposal  of  the  Trustees  that  he  should  accompany  Mr.  Ten- 
nent  to  Britain.  And  the  last  thing  which  he  did  before  leaving 
London  was  to  call  upon  Dr.  Avery,  Mr.  Mauduit,  Dr.  Stennet, 
and  others  with  the  petition  sent  to  him  from  Virginia,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  rights  of  the  Dissenters  there  under  the  English 
Act  of  Toleration,  and  to  solicit  their  aid  in  this  matter  which 
he  had  so  much  at  heart.  At  his  earnest  request  these  gentle- 
men promised  their  assistance;  nor  were  they  unmindful  of  their 
engagement.  They  conferred  with  the  committee  of  the  depu- 
tation of  Protestant  Dissenters  in  regard  to  the  expediency  of 
presenting  the  petition  to  the  King  in  Council,  and  it  was 
deemed  imprudent  to  present  it  at  that  time.  The  committee 
gave  it  as  their  advice  that  the  Dissenters  in  Virginia  should 
apply  first  to  the  County  Court ;  and  if  refused,  then  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council ;  and  if  refused  by  them,  to  use  the  house  for 
which  a  license  had  been  sought,  as  if  it  had  been  licensed  ;  and 
if  prosecuted  for  so  doing,  to  let  the  committee  know.  At  the 
same  time  the  committee  sent  them  private  instructions,  in  case 
any  persons  should  be  prosecuted  for  using  such  unlicensed 
houses,  that  they  should  appeal  to  the  King  in  Council,  and  the 
committee  engaged  to  prosecute  the  appeal.  But  no  appeal 
was  ever  made.  By  the  time  Mr.  Davies  returned  home,  the 
state  of  public  affairs  in  Virginia  was  so  much  changed,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  incursions  of  the  French  and  of  the  Indians 
upon  the  western  frontiers,  that  the  Colonial  Government,  which 
depended  in  no  small  degree  upon  the  aid  of  the  Dissenters  to 
repel  these  hostile  aggressions,  had  less  time  and  probably  less 
inclination  to  molest  these  loyal  men,  who  were  ready  to  lay 
down  their  lives,  if  need  be,  in  defence  of  their  country.  Mr. 
Davies  was  among  the  foremost  in  urging  upon  his  friends  the 
duty  of  taking  up  arms  in  defence  of  their  King  and  of  their 
homes  ;  which,  under  the  influence  of  his  powerful  appeals,  they 
promptly  did,  and  in  large  numbers. 

In  a  note  to  a  sermon  preached  on  the  i/th  of  August,  1755, 


242        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

to  the  first  volunteer  company  raised  in  Virginia  after  Braddock's 
defeat,  occur  these  words  : 

"  I  may  point  out  to  the  public  that  heroic  youth,  Col. 
Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Providence  has  hitherto 
preserved  in  so  signal  a  manner  for  some  important  service." 
Washington  was  then  in  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
By  his  prudence  and  courage  he  had  rescued  from  destruction 
the  remnant  of  Braddock's  army. 

About  this  time,  too,  the  Established  clergy  became  involved 
in  a  controversy  with  the  Legislature  with  respect  to  the  pay- 
ment of  their  stipends  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco* 
"  whether  they  should  be  paid  in  kind  or  at  an  estimated  value." 
"  While  this  contest  waxed  hotter  and  hotter,  Dissenters  of  dif- 
ferent names,"  says  Dr.  Foote,  "  multiplied,  and  the  rigor  of  the 
courts  relaxed.  This  unadvised  proceeding  of  the  clergy  did 
more  for  the  Dissenters  than  all  their  appeals  to  natural  and 
constitutional  law  had  been  able  to  accomplish."  The  Revolu- 
tion of  1776  put  an  end  to  all  the  restraints  to  which  the  Dis- 
senters had  been  subjected  by  the  laws  of  Virginia,  and  gave 
them  that  perfect  freedom  in  all  matters  of  religion  for  which 
Mr.  Davies  so  long  and  so  earnestly  contended.  But  amidst 
all  his  labors  in  defence  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he  never 
forgot  that  his  chief  business  was  to  preach  the  gospel ;  and 
this  he  continued  to  do  most  diligently  to  all  classes,  rich  and 
poor,  white  and  black. 

In  December,  1755,  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover  was  formed, 
and  of  this  Presbytery  Mr.  Davies  was  the  first  Moderator.  It 
comprised  all  the  Presbyterian  ministers  in  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina,  with  their  respective  charges.  "  Of  the  whole  Dis- 
senting interests  in  these  two  colonies,  Mr.  Davies,"  says  Presi- 
dent Green,  "  was  the  animating  soul.  He  made  his  influence 
felt  everywhere ;  he  transfused  his  spirit  into  the  bosoms  of  his 
associates,  and  roused  them  by  the  force  of  his  example.  His 
popularity  in  Virginia  was  almost  unbounded ;  so  that  he  was 
invited  and  urged  to  preach  in  almost  all  the  settled  portions 
of  that  colony." 

Three  years  and  a  half  after  his  return  from  England,  Mr. 
Davies  was  chosen  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 


MEMOIR    GF   THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES. 


243 


By  the  advice  of  his  Presbytery  he  declined  this  invitation  ;  but 
subsequently,  with  the  approval  of  the  Synod,  he  accepted  the 
office  upon  a  tender  of  it  a  second  time ;  and  he  entered  upon 
its  duties  on  the  26th  of  July,  1759. 

In  the  sketch  given  of  his  administration,  it  was  shown  that 
his  career,  though  short,  was  brilliant,  and  that  the  highest 
hopes  were  entertained  by  the  friends  of  the  College  that  his 
direction  of  its  affairs  would  be  attended  with  the  happiest 
results.  But  these  hopes  were  doomed  to  a  sudden  and  unex- 
pected disappointment;  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
his  constant  and  earnest  devotion  to  his  official  duties  served  to 
undermine  his  strength,  and  caused  him  to  succumb  the  more 
readily  to  the  fever  of  which  he  died. 

"Towards  the  close  of  January,  1761,"  says  President  Green,  "he  was  seized 
with  a  bad  cold,  for  which  he  was  bled.  The  same  day  he  transcribed  for  the 
press  his  sermon  on  the  death  of  George  the  Second.*  The  day  following  he 
preached  twice  in  the  College  Chapel.  The  arm  in  which  he  had  been  bled — 
surely  for  a  reason  sufficiently  obvious — became  much  inflamed,  and  his  febrile 
disposition  was  much  increased.  On  the  morning  of  the  succeeding  Monday  he 
was  seized,  while  at  breakfast,  with  violent  chills,  succeeded  by  an  inflammatory 
fever,  which  in  ten  days  terminated  his  life."  "  The  violence  of  his  disease  de- 
prived him  of  the  exercise  of  his  reason  through  most  of  his  sickness,  .  .  .  and 
even  in  his  delirium  he  manifested  what  were  the  objects  which  chiefly  occupied 
his  mind.  His  faltering  tongue  was  continually  uttering  some  expedient  to  pro- 
mote the  prosperity  of  the  Church  of  Christ  and  the  good  of  mankind." 

He  died  on  the  4th  of  February,  1761,  in  the  thirty-eighth 
year  of  his  age. 

A  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  was  preached  in  Lon- 
don on  the  2Qth  of  March,  by  his  friend  and  correspondent,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Gibbons ;  and  another  at  Princeton  on  the 
28th  of  May,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Finley.  (Sprague's  "  An- 
nals.") The  one  by  Dr.  Finley  was  printed  at  the  request  of 
the  Trustees ;  and  it  was  republished  in  London  by  Dr.  Gib- 
bons, in  connection  with  his  own  sermon.  Both  these  dis- 
courses were  prefixed  to  the  first  volume  of  Mr.  Davies's 
sermons,  edited  by  Dr.  Gibbons.  The  Rev.  David  Bostwick, 
of  New  York,  another  intimate  friend,  who  had  been  intrusted 
with  the  printing  of  President  Davies's  sermon  on  the  death  of 

*  This  sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Davies  in  the  College  Chapel,  January  14. 


244        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

George  the  Second,  wrote  a  preface  to  this  sermon,  "in  which 
the  talents,  piety,  and  usefulness  of  Mr.  Davies  were  exhibited, 
and  eulogized  with  much  warmth."  (President  Green's  Sketches.) 
These  were  the  first  tributes  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  this 
remarkable  man  and  most  eloquent  preacher ;  but  they  are  not 
the  only  ones.  Memoirs  of  President  Davies  have  been  given 
to  the  public  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rice,  of  Virginia,  in  his 
"  Literary  and  Evangelical  Magazine ;"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green, 
in  his  Sketch  of  the  College ;  Rev.  Dr.  Allen,  in  his  "  Biograph- 
ical Dictionary;"  Rev.  Dr.  Foote,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  Virginia;" 
Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  in  his  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit;" 
and  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  in  a  preface  to  the  third  New  York 
edition  of  Davies's  sermons.  Mention  of  him  and  of  his 
writings  is  made  in  Middleton's  "  Biographia  Evangelica,"  in 
Allibone's  "Dictionary  of  Authors,"  and  in  other  publications. 
Distinguished  as  he  was  in  various  respects,  he  was  pre- 
eminent in  the  pulpit,  of  which  fact  the  great  demand  for  his 
published  sermons  is  sufficient  evidence  were  there  none  other. 
Before  the  close  of  the  last  century  not  less  than  nine  editions 
were  printed  in  England.  (See  Dr.  Green's  Sketches  of  the 
College.)  And  the  publishers  of  the  first  stereotyped  edition 
in  this  country  tell  us  that  in  1842,  "notwithstanding  four 
large  American  editions  have  been  published,  the  book  is 
entirely  out  of  the  market."  Fifty  years  ago — viz.,  in  1822 — 
Dr.  Green  remarked,  "  Probably  there  are  no  sermons  in  the 
English  language  which  have  been  more  read,  or  for  which 
there  has  been  so  steady  and  unceasing  a  demand  for  more 
than  half  a  century."  And  to  this  remark  he  justly  and  wisely 
adds  the  following  criticism  : 

"  They  are  certainly  not  distinguished  for  minute  accuracy  of  language,  or  those 
terse  periods  which  many  later  compositions  of  the  same  kind  possess.  Nor  can 
they,  in  all  their  parts,  be  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  something  that  appears 
loose,  tumid,  and  declamatory.  The  general  run  of  the  sentences,  however,  is 
harmonious ;  and  they  everywhere  contain  so  much  just  thinking,  such  powerful 
reasonings,  such  pungent  addresses  to  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  with  such  an 
unction  of  piety,  and  such  a  popularity  of  manner,  as  may  well  account  for  the 
favorable  reception  they  have  met  with.  The  reader  soon  ceases  to  attend  to  any- 
thing but  the  subject  discussed,  and  is  carried  delightfully  along  by  the  powerful 
charm  of  genius  and  piety  in  happy  union." 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   DA  VIES.  245 

The  following  is  a  list  of  President  Davies's  published  works 
as  given  by  Dr.  Sprague  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  American 
Pulpit" : 

"A  sermon  on  Man's  Primitive  State,  1748.  'The  State  of  Religion  among  the 
Protestant  Dissenters  in  Virginia,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bellamy,'  1751.  A 
sermon  preached  before  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  1752.  A  sermon  preached 
at  the  installation  of  the  Rev.  John  Todd,  1752.  'Religion  and  Patriotism,  the 
Constituents  of  a  Good  Soldier :'  a  sermon  preached  before  a  company  of  volun- 
teers, 1755.  'Virginia's  Danger  and  Remedy:'  two  discourses  occasioned  by  the 
severe  drought,  and  the  defeat  of  General  Braddock,  1755.  Letters  showing  the 
State  of  Religion  in  Virginia,  particularly  among  the  Negroes,  1755—1757.  A  ser- 
mon on  the  Vessels  of  Mercy  and  the  Vessels  of  Wrath,  1757.  A  Sermon  on  Little 
Children  invited  to  Jesus  Christ,  1757.  'The  Curse  of  Cowardice  :'  a  sermon  before 
the  militia  of  Virginia,  1758.  A  Valedictory  Discourse  to  the  Senior  Class  in  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  1760.  A  sermon  on  the  Death  of  George  II.,  1761.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  several  important  documents  of  a  public  nature,  and  various 
hymns  and  other  pieces  of  poetry  of  no  small  degree  of  merit. 

"  A  collection  of  his  sermons,  including  most  of  those  which  had  been  printed  in 
his  lifetime,  was  published  after  his  death,  in  three  volumes  octavo." 

To  the  above  list  may  be  added  a  sermon  on  John  ii.  2,  revised  and  edited  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Erskine,  of  Scotland,  from  the  manuscript  notes  of  Mr.  Davies,  fur- 
nished by  himself,  1754;  his  "Diary"  or  journal  of  his  mission  to  England,  from 
July  2,  1753,  to  February  13,  1755,  given  in  Dr.  Foote's  "  Sketches  of  Virginia;" 
also  sundry  letters,  including  those  to  Dr.  Doddridge,  the  Bishop  of  London,  and 
Dr.  Avery,  respecting  the  condition  of  the  Dissenters  in  Virginia.  The  sermon 
before  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  1752,  was  on  Isaiah  Ixii.  I ;  and  when  he  was 
in  England  he  was  urged  by  friendly  ministers  and  others  in  various  parts  of  Great 
Britain  to  give  this  sermon  a  second  edition,  which  in  his  "Diary,"  September 
28,  1754,  he  expresses  his  purpose  to  do. 

In  his  "  Notes,"  published  in  1822,  President  Green  makes  the 
following  mention  of  the  family  of  President  Davies : 

"  Of  the  family  left  by  President  Davies  the  writer  is  able  to  give  but  little  in- 
formation. The  funeral  sermon  preached  by  Dr.  Finley  is  dedicated  to  Mrs. 
Martha  Davies,  the  mother,  and  Mrs.  Jean  Davies,  the  widow,  of  the  late  President 
Davies.  Of  his  widow,  it  is  only  known  that  she  returned  to  her  friends  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  remained  there  till  her  death.  Her  eldest  son,  Colonel  William  Davies, 
was  educated  at  Nassau  Hall,  and  graduated  in  1765.  He  studied  law,  and  set- 
tled at  Norfolk,  in  Virginia.  In  the  Revolutionary  War  he  obtained  the  rank  of  a 
Colonel  in  the  American  Army,  was  an  officer  of  distinguished  merit,  and  possessed 
in  an  eminent  degree  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the 
illustrious  Washington.  He  was  well  known  to  the  writer  [Dr.  Green],  and  was 
unquestionably  a  man  of  powerful  mind,  highly  cultivated,  and  enriched  by  various 
knowledge.  He  died  in  Virginia  a  few  years  since.  John  Rodgers  Davies  was 
also  educated  at  Nassau  Hall,  and  graduated  in  1769.  He  likewise  studied  the 
law.  Samuel  Davies,  the  third  son,  was  settled  in  Petersburg,  and  died  there  sev- 


246        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

eral  years  ago.*  His  mother,  Mrs.  Martha  Davies,  made  a  part  of  the  President's 
family  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  writer  [President  Green]  has  been  well  in- 
formed that  when  the  corpse  of  her  son  was  laid  in  the  coffin,  she  stood  over  it,  in 
the  presence  of  a  number  of  friends,  for  some  minutes,  viewing  it  attentively,  and 
then  said,  '  There  is  the  son  of  my  prayers  and  my  hopes, — my  only  son, — my  only 
earthly  support.  But  there  is  the  will  of  God,  and  I  am  satisfied.'  This  eminent 
saint  was  received  into  the  family  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  of  New  York,  and  by 
him  was  treated  with  the  utmost  kindness  and  veneration  till  the  time  of  her  death." 

President  Davies  was  buried  by  the  side  of  President  Edwards, 
and  over  his  remains  the  following  inscription  was  placed  : 

Sub  Hoc  Marmore  sepulchrali, 

Mortales  Exuvia; 

Reverendi  perquam  Viri, 

Samuelis  Davies,  A.M. 

Collegii  Nov-Csesariensis  Praesidis, 

Futurum  Domini  Adventum  pnestolantur. 

Ne  te,  Viator,  ut  pauca  de  tanto 

Tamque  dilecto  Viro  resciscas, 

Paulisper  morari  pigeat. 

Natus  est  in  Comitatu  de  Newcastle,  juxta  Delaware, 
III  Novembris,  Anno  Salutis  reparatse, 

MDCCXXIV.  S.  V. 
Sacris  ibidem  initiatus,  XIX  Februarii, 

MDCCXLVII. 

Tutelam  pastoralem  Ecclesiae 

In  Comitatu  de  Hanover,  Virginiensium,  suscepit, 

Ibi  per  XI  plus  minus  Annos, 

Ministri  Evangelic!  Laboribus 

Indefesse,  et  favente  Numine,  auspicate  perfunctus. 

Ad  Munus  Prassidiale  Collegii  Nov-Qesariensis  gerendum 

Vocatus  est,  et  inauguratus,  XXVI  Julii, 

MDCCLIX  S.  N. 

Sed,  proh  Rerum  inane  !  intra  Biennium,  Febre  correptus, 
Candidam  Animam  Ccelo  reddidit,  IV  Februarii,  MDCCLXI. 

Heu  quam  exiguum  Vitae  Curriculum  ! 
Corpore  fuit  eximio;  Gestu  liberal!,  placido,  augusto 

Ingenii  Nitore, 

Morum  Integritate,  Munificentia,  Facilitate, 
Inter  paucos  illustris, 

*  In  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  David  Bostwick  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellamy,  of  the  date 
of  March  17,  1761,  Mr.  Bostwick  observes:  "The  people  of  Philadelphia  have 
collected  .£95  per  annum  for  five  years  to  support  his  three  sons  at  College,  and 
Philadelphia  and  New  York  have  raised  between  four  and  five  hundred  pounds 
for  the  widow  and  two  daughters,  for  he  left  very  little  estate." — J.  M. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   DAVJES.  247 

Rei  literarise  peritus;  Theologus  promptus,  perspicax, 

In  Rostris,  per  Eloquium  blandum,  mellitum 

Vehemens  simul,  et  perstringens,  nulli  secundus, 

Scriptor  ornatus,  sublimis,  disertus. 

Prsesertim  vero  Pietate, 

Ardente  in  Deum  Zelo  et  Religione  Spectandus, 
In  tanti  Viri,  majora  meriti, 

Memoriam  duraturam, 

Amici  hoc  qualecunque  Monumentum, 

Honoris  ergo  et  Gratitudinis,  posuere. 

Abi,  Viator,  ei  amulare. 

The  following  extracts  will  conclude  this  memoir : 

"  Mr.  Davies's  death  has  struck  us  with  astonishment,  and  spread  a  gloom  over 
the  whole  country.  The  loss  cannot  be  expressed.  I  believe  there  never  was  a 
College  happier  in  its  President,  or  in  a  more  flourishing  state.  He  far  exceeded 
the  expectation  of  his  best  friends.  As  you  were  not  personally  acquainted,  you 
can  hardly  conceive  what  prodigious  uncommon  gifts  the  God  of  heaven  had  be- 
stowed upon  that  man  to  render  him  useful  to  the  world, — but  he  is  gone !  O 
what  he  might  have  been,  what  he  might  have  done,  had  he  lived  !  But  methinks 
I  hear  the  admonition,  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God." 

"  His  sermon  on  the  death  of  his  late  Majesty  I  purpose  to  send  you  with  this ; 
the  first  impression,  tho'  1000,  is  gone ;  a  second  is  in  the  press.  It  was  the  last 
work  of  a  public  nature  he  ever  did." — Rev.  Mr.  Bostwick's  letter  of  Alarch  17, 
1761,  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bellamy. 

"  As  to  his  natural  genius,  it  was  strong  and  masculine.  His  understanding  was 
clear,  his  memory  retentive,  his  invention  quick,  his  imagination  lively  and  florid, 
his  thoughts  sublime,  and  his  language  elegant,  strong,  and  expressive."  .  .  . 

"  His  appearance  in  company  was  manly  and  graceful ;  his  behavior  genteel,  not 
ceremonious ;  grave,  yet  pleasant,  and  solid  but  sprightly  too.  In  a  word,  he  was 
an  open,  conversable,  and  entertaining  companion,  a  polite  gentleman,  and  a  devout 
Christian." 

"  In  the  sacred  desk,  zeal  for  God  and  love  to  men  animated  his  addresses,  and 
made  them  tender,  solemn,  pungent,  and  persuasive;  while  at  the  same  time  they 
were  ingenious,  accurate,  and  oratorical.  A  certain  dignity  of  sentiment  and  style, 
a  venerable  presence,  a  commanding  voice,  and  emphatical  delivery  concurred  both 
to  charm  his  audience  and  overawe  them  into  silence  and  attention." 

"  Nor  was  his  usefulness  confined  to  the  pulpit.  His  comprehensive  mind  could 
take  under  view  the  grand  interests  of  his  country  and  of  religion  at  once ;  and 
these  interests  as  well  as  those  of  his  friends  he  was  ever  ready  zealously  to  serve." 

"  His  natural  temper  was  remarkably  sweet  and  dispassionate,  and  his  heart  was 
one  of  the  tenderest  towards  the  distressed." 

"  He  was  among  the  first  and  highest  examples  of  filial  piety." 

"  In  a  word,  think  what  might  rationally  be  expected  in  the  present  imperfect 
state,  in  a  mature  man,  a  Christian  in  minority,  a  minister  of  Jesus,  of  like  passions 
with  others,  in  a  gentleman,  companion,  and  cordial  friend,  and  you  conceive  of 
President  Davies." 


248        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"I  never  knew  one  who  appeared  to  lay  himself  more  fully  open  to  the  recep- 
tion of  truth,  from  whatever  quarter  it  came,  than  he." 

"  The  unavoidable  consciousness  of  native  power  made  him  bold  and  enter- 
prising. Yet  the  event  proved  that  his  boldness  arose,  not  from  a  partial,  ground- 
less self-conceit,  but  from  true  self-knowledge.  Upon  a  fair  and  candid  trial,  faithful 
and  just  to  himself,  he  judged  what  he  could  do ;  and  what  he  could,  when  called 
to  it,  he  attempted ;  and  what  he  attempted  he  accomplished."  (From  Dr.  Finley's 
Sermon  on  the  Death  of  President  Davies.) 

The  above  is  the  testimony  of  men  who  knew  him  well,  and 
who  were  able  to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  such  a  man  as 
Samuel  Davies. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  ELECTION  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL 
FINLEY,  THE  FIFTH  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW 
JERSEY. 

AT  the  time  Mr.  Davies  was  first  chosen  President,  some  of 
the  Trustees  were  in  favor  of  electing  Mr.  Finley,  and  on  the 
death  of  Mr.  Davies  no  other  person  appears  to  have  been 
thought  of  to  supply  his  place.  Before  the  meeting  of  the 
Trustees,  which  had  been  appointed  for  the  28th  of  May,  there 
was,  doubtless,  more  or  less  correspondence  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  in  regard  to  this  important  measure,  and  an 
understanding  that  Mr.  Finley  would  be  their  choice.  Mr. 
Bostwick,  a  devoted  friend  of  President  Davies,  in  his  letter  to 
Mr.  Bellamy,  of  the  i/th  of  March,  1761,  speaking  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Davies,  adds,  "  Our  eyes  are  on  Mr.  Finley,  a  very  accu- 
rate scholar,  and  a  very  great  and  good  man.  Blessed  be 
the  Lord  that  such  an  one  is  to  be  found.  The  internal  state 
of  the  College  is  good,  and  the  management  of  the  Tutors  so 
generally  approved,  that  there  will  be  no  pro  tempore  Presi- 
dent, and  the  time  appointed  for  choice  is  the  28th  of  May." 
At  this  date,  however,  as  appears  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board, 
a  quorum  did  not  assemble.  "  Express  messengers  were  de- 
spatched to  several  of  the  absent  members,  and  on  Monday, 
June  I,  1761,  being  called  over,  the  following  members  ap- 
peared, viz. :  Messrs.  William  Smith,  Samuel  Woodruff,  John 
Pierson,  Gilbert  Tennent,  William  Tennent,  Caleb  Smith,  Jacob 
Green,  John  Brainerd,  Samuel  Finley,  Elihu  Spencer,  Charles 
McKnight,  John  Light,  Richard  Stockton." 

The  following  proceedings  of  the  Board  at  this  meeting  are 
copied  from  their  minutes: 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  David  Bostwick,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Israel 
Reed,  of  Bound  Brook,  Dr.  John  Redman,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Doctor  Robert 
VOL.  I. — 17  249 


250        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Harris,  of  New  Brunswick,  were  duly  elected  Trustees  of  the  College  in  the  room 
of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Davies  and  Cowell,  deceased,  and  of  Mr.  Cummings  removed 
to  Boston,  and  Mr.  Livingston  resigned.  Mr.  Bostwick  was  qualified  as  the  Char- 
ter directs,  and  took  his  seat  accordingly." 

.  "  It  having  pleased  a  Sovereign  God  since  our  last  meeting  to  remove  by  death 
the  late  reverend  and  ingenious  Mr.  Davies,  President  of  the  College,  the  Trustees 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  President,  whereupon  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Finley, 
of  Nottingham,  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  was  unanimously  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  in  the  room  of  the  said  Mr.  Davies.  And  the  said  Mr.  Finley, 
being  informed  of  the  above  election,  was  pleased  modestly  to  accept  the  same. 
Whereupon  Mr.  Treat,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Board,  is  desired  to  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  Mr.  Finley  belongs,  to  request  that  he  may  be 
liberated  from  his  present  pastoral  charge." 

"  It  is  ordered,  that'Mr.  Finley's  salary  as  President  of  the  College  be  the  sum  of 
£200,  proclamation,  per  annum,  with  the  usual  privileges  and  perquisites.  And 
that  the  expense  of  moving  Mr.  Finley's  family  to  this  place  be  paid  by  the 
Treasurer." 

There  is  evidently  an  inaccuracy  in  the  minute  respecting 
the  election  of  two  of  the  new  Trustees,  in  which  they  are  said 
to  have  been  duly  elected  in  the  room  of  Messrs.  Davies  and 
Cowell,  deceased.  Mr.  Davies  was  a  Trustee  only  in  virtue  of  his 
being  the  President  of  the  College ;  and  the  only  person  who 
could  succeed  him  as  a  Trustee  would  be  his  successor  in  the 
office  of  President.  Mr.  Finley,  by  accepting  this  office,  thereby 
vacated  his  seat  at  the  Board  as  a  regular  and  permanent  mem- 
ber, which  made  one  of  the  two  vacancies  among  the  clerical 
members  of  the  Board  that  were  filled  by  the  election  of  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Bostwick  and  Reed. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  took  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  3Oth  of  September,  1761,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commence- 
ment. His  Excellency  Governor  Boone  was  present  on  this 
occasion,  and  so  were  all  the  Trustees  but  three,  making  the 
number  in  attendance  twenty. 

Although  Mr.  Finley  upon  being  chosen  President  of  the 
College  had  signified  his  willingness  to  accept  the  office,  he 
could  not  formally  do  so  until  he  had  obtained  the  consent 
of  the  Presbytery  of  which  he  was  a  member ;  and  therefore 
his  inauguration  as  President  was  deferred  until  this  meeting  of 
the  Trustees.  Having  taken  the  prescribed  oaths,  he  appears 
to  have  taken  his  seat  at  the  Board  without  any  other  formality 
or  ceremony. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL   FINLEY. 


251 


The  Trustees  next  attended  the  Commencement  exercises, 
when  fourteen  young  gentlemen  were  admitted  to  the  first  de- 
gree in  the  Arts,  and  three  others  to  their  second  degree.  It 
appears  from  a  minute  adopted  at  this  meeting  that  one  of  the 
students  was  in  considerable  arrears  for  his  tuition,  and  the 
Board  directed  that,  "  in  case  these  arrears  were  not  fully  dis- 
charged before  the  end  of  the  ensuing  vacation,  he  should  be 
dismissed  from  the  College."  Nothing  is  said  of  his  ability  to 
pay  the  tuition-fees ;  the  only  thing  mentioned  is  that  he  was 
in  arrears  for  his  tuition.  At  this  time  no  provision  had  been 
made  for  the  payment  of  the  tuition-fees  of  young  men  in  in- 
digent or  moderate  circumstances,  except  to  a  small  extent  in 
the  case  of  those  preparing  for  the  ministry.  Of  late  years, 
happily,  any  worthy  youth  unable  to  pay  his  tuition-fees  has 
had  them  remitted  upon  an  application  to  the  President  or  other 
officer  of  the  College  having  the  oversight  of  this  matter. 

The  decision  reached  in  the  case  just  mentioned  led  to  a  fur- 
ther consideration  of  the  whole  subject  of  College  dues,  and 
to  the  adoption  of  the  following  minute : 

"  The  Trustees  taking  into  consideration  the  damages  the  Institution  has  sustained 
by  the  Deficiency  in  the  Payment  of  the  Students'  Quarterly  Bills,*  IT  is  ORDERED, 
That  for  the  future  every  Student  who  enters  College  be  obliged  to  give  sufficient 
security  by  Bond  or  otherwise  to  the  Treasurer  for  the  punctual  payment  of  all  his 
Dues  to  the  College,  which  Law  [is]  to  take  place  at  the  expiration  of  the  present 
year,  in  case  no  objection  appears  to  this  measure  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Trus- 
tees." 

The  rule  now  in  force  on  this  subject,  and  which  was  adopted 
many  years  ago,  is,  that  all  charges  for  College  expenses  shall 
be  paid  in  advance  at  the  beginning  of  each  term. 

The  settlement  of  the  Steward's  accounts  was  generally  one 
of  the  items  of  business  which  demanded  the  attention  of  the 
Board ;  and  it  is  evident  from  the  various  resolutions  on  this 
subject  that  there  was  no  little  difficulty  in  adjusting  these 
accounts  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  parties  concerned. 

*  The  bills  for  the  entire  year,  at  this  period  in  the  history  of  the  College, 
amounted  to  about  £25.6.0 proc.  These  included  charges  for  tuition,  ^4;  board, 
,£15;  washing,  £3;  fire-wood  and  candles,  £2;  room-rent,  £i ;  and  contingent 
charges,  6  shillings. 


HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Happily  for  the  College,  this  whole  system  of  providing 
meals  for  the  students  has  been  given  up ;  yet  payments  for 
board  continue  to  be  made  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  College, 
for  the  better  security  of  the  boarders  and  of  the  boarding- 
houses.  The  change  here  referred  to  took  place  in  1855. 

The  examination  of  candidates  for  degrees  was  ordered  to 
be  held  in  future  on  the  third  Wednesday  in  August.  Previ- 
ously to  this  the  examination  took  place  on  the  last  Wednesday 
in  July.  No  change  was  made  in  the  time  of  the  annual  Com- 
mencement. 

For  his  extra  services  while  the  College  was  without  a  Presi- 
dent, the  Trustees  made  Mr.  Halsey,  the  senior  Tutor,  a  present 
of  twenty  pounds  in  addition  to  his  salary. 

The  following  extracts  will  explain  themselves,  while  they 
show  the  action  of  the  Board  in  reference  to  matters  of  more 
or  less  interest  in  the  history  of  the  College  : 

"  Voted,  That  the  Treasurer  of  the  College  pay  President  Finley  the  sum  of 
£22.11,  it  being  the  expense  of  his  removal  to  the  College." 

"  Voted,  That  President  Finley's  salary  begin  from  the  third  Wednesday  in  June 
last,  it  being  the  time  of  his  dismission  from  his  people  at  Nottingham." 

"  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Stockton,  the  Clerk,  be  desired  to  return  the  thanks  of  this 
Board  to  the  Gentlemen  in  Philadelphia  who  have  generously  undertaken  the  man- 
agement of  the  Lottery  now  on  foot  in  favor  of  the  College." 

"  Ordered,  That  all  moneys  arising  from  the  Lottery  made  in  Philadelphia,  for 
the  Benefit  of  the  College,  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Sergeant,  the  Treasurer, 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  the  said  moneys  be  by  him  immediately  put  out  to 
Interest  as  soon  as  opportunities  present." 

"  Voted,  That  President  Finley  be  desired  to  print  his  Sermon  preached  at  the 
funeral  of  Mr.  Davies,  at  the  Expense  of  the  College,  and  that  they  be  disposed  of 
for  the  Benefit  of  the  College." 

A  few  extracts  from  this  sermon  are  given  at  the  close  of  our 
memoir  of  President  Davies.  This  sermon  was  not  preached 
at  Mr.  Davies's  funeral,  but  at  or  near  the  beginning  of  the 
summer  term  of  the  College,  Thursday,  May  28,  1761.  The 
Trustees  were  to  have  had  a  meeting  on  the  previous  Thursday, 
May  21,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  President  in  the  room 
of  Mr.  Davies.  But,  a  quorum  not  assembling  on  that  day, 
they  could  not  proceed  with  this  business,  and  they  only  took 
measures  to  secure  the  attendance  of  a  sufficient  number  on  the 
ist  of  June. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


253 


The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  Wednesday,  the 
29th  of  September,  1762,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commence- 
ment. His  Excellency  Governor  Hardy  was  present,  and  took 
his  seat  as  President  of  the  Board.  The  following  address  to 
the  Governor,  and  his  reply,  are  copied  from  the  New  York 
"  Mercury"  of  October  18,  1762,  there  being  no  note  of  them 
in  the  minutes  of  the  Board : 

"To  his  Excellency  Josiah  Hardy,  Esq.,  Captain-General,  Commander-in-Chief 
in  and  over  his  Majesty's  Province  of  Nova  Caesarea,  or  New  Jersey,  and  territories 
thereon  depending  in  America,  Chancellor,  and  Vice- Admiral  in  the  same. 
"  May  it  please  your  Excellency  :  We,  his  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  sub- 
jects, the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  with  the  greatest  pleasure  take 
this  opportunity  of  publickly  congratulating  your  Excellency  upon  your  appointment 
to  and  acceptance  of  this  Government.  And  we  are  particularly  happy  in  believing, 
from  the  specimen  your  Excellency  has  already  given  of  your  good  Disposition, 
that  the  loss  we  sustained  in  the  speedy  removal  of  your  immediate  Predecessor 
is  made  up  in  you ;  and  that  as  the  College  of  this  Province  has  been  favoured  with 
the  patronage  of  each  of  our  Governors  since  its  Institution,  your  Excellency  will 
be  pleased  to  take  it  under  your  Protection.  We  can  assure  you  that  the  general 
Principle  of  preparing  youth  for  public  service  in  Church  and  State,  and  making 
them  useful  members  of  Society,  without  concerning  ourselves  about  their  particular 
religious  denomination,  is  our  grand  Idea.  And  we  [hope],  when  you  shall  be 
pleased  to  look  into  the  Constitution  of  this  Seminary  of  Learning,  and,  by  hon- 
ouring us  with  your  personal  Attendance  at  our  Meetings,  see  the  Manner  of  our 
Procedure,  you  will  conceive  it  an  object  worthy  of  the  notice  of  the  Supreme 
Magistrate. 

"  We  acknowledge  the  Honour  your  Excellency  has  done  us  by  your  present 
Attendance,  and  we  most  heartily  wish  you  a  long-continued  and  prosperous  Ad- 
ministration in  this  Province.  Signed  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees, 

"  RICHARD  STOCKTON,  Clerk. 

"  To  which  his  Excellency  was  pleased  to  return  the  following  answer  : 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  hereby  thank  you  for  your  Address.  It  will  be  at  all  times  a 
particular  satisfaction  to  me  to  give  you  every  assistance  in  my  power  in  promoting 
the  prosperity  of  this  useful  Seminary  of  Learning. 

"  JOSIAH  HARDY. 

"  PRINCET.,  Sept.  27,  1762." 

The  following  account  of  the  proceedings  at  this  Commence- 
ment is  given  in  the  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette"  of  the  2 1st  of  Oc- 
tober, in  a  letter  dated 

"  Princeton,  September  30,  1762.  Yesterday  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  with  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  attended  the  Commencement. 
After  the  usual  Procession,  and  a  solemn  Invocation  of  the  Divine  blessing  on  the 


254        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

business  of  the  day  and  the  candidates  for  the  honors  of  the  College,  the  ex- 
ercises were  introduced  by 

"  I.  An  elegant  Salutatory  oration  in  Latin,  pronounced  by  Mr.  James  Manning. 

"  2.  The  young  gentlemen  gave  an  agreeable  specimen  of  their  skill  in  Disputa- 
tion, which  was  carried  on  alternately  in  the  syllogistic  and  forensic  way.  The 
subject  of  the  first,  which  was  syllogistic,  was  the  following  Thesis : 

" '  Conservatio  non  est  continua  creatio,'  which  was  well  defended  and  opposed, 

"  3.  This  was  followed  by  a  forensic  dispute  on  this  question :  '  Whether  a  Prince 
endowed  with  the  virtues  of  civil  government,  but  not  with  military,  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  one  of  the  most  shining  military  genius  if  he  is  destitute  of  the  virtues 
necessary  for  governing  in  peace  ?'  Which  was  decided  in  the  affirmative,  after 
being  debated  on  both  sides  with  much  spirit  and  eloquence. 

"  4.  To  relax  the  attention  of  the  audience,  an  English  oration  on  politeness 
was  pronounced  by  Mr.  Joseph  Periam,  which  gave  universal  satisfaction  for  the 
justness  of  the  sentiments,  the  elegance  of  the  composition,  and  the  propriety  with 
which  it  was  delivered. 

"  5.  The  Thesis  next  debated  was, '  Anima  humana  dum  in  corpus  infunditur 
a  Deo  immediate  creatur,'  which  afforded  pleasure  to  the  learned  portion  of  the 
Auditory. 

"  6.  The  exercises  of  the  forenoon  were  concluded  by  a  forensic  dispute  on  this 
subject :  '  Whether  moral  as  well  as  mathematical  truths  are  capable  of  demonstra- 
tion ?'  Which  was  judiciously  maintained  and  determined  in  the  affirmative  to 
general  satisfaction. 

"  7.  The  entertainments  in  the  afternoon  were  begun  by  a  dispute,  which  was 
very  ingeniously  managed  by  the  respondent,  on  this  Thesis  :  «  Sensus  moralis  qua 
simplex  perceptio  atque  moralis  obligationis  fundamentum  non  datur.' 

"  8.  The  last  question  disputed  by  the  Bachelors,  being, '  Whether  Noah's  Flood 
was  Universal  ?'  gave  agreeable  amusement  to  the  Auditory  by  the  popular  and 
pertinent  manner  in  which  it  was  canvassed. 

"  9.  A  Valedictory  oration  in  English,  pronounced  by  Mr.  Isaac  Allen  with 
graceful  ease  and  propriety,  closed  the  exercises  of  the  candidates  for  the  honor 
of  Bachelor's  degree. 

"  10.  The  following  Thesis  was  learnedly  defended  and  opposed  by  the  candi- 
dates for  Master's  degree :  '  Deus  hominem  sine  virtute  non  primario  creavit  neque 
creare  potuit.' 

"II.  After  this,  twenty-one  young  gentlemen  were  admitted  to  the  honor  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  twelve  to  the  second  degree.  In  behalf  of  the  last-men- 
tioned candidates  was  agreeably  delivered  an  English  oration  by  Mr.  James  Lyon. 

"  12.  Mr.  Ker,  who  for  some  time  past  had  officiated  in  the  character  of  a  Tutor, 
took  his  leave  of  the  society  in  a  short  Valedictory  address. 

"  The  whole  concluded  with  a  Poetical  Entertainment  given  by  the  candidates 
for  Bachelor's  degree,  interspersed  with  choruses  of  Music,  which,  with  the  whole 
performance  of  the  day,  afforded  universal  satisfaction  to  a  polite  and  crowded 
auditory." 

The  entertainment  here  referred  to  was  entitled  "  The  Mili- 
tary Glory  of  Great  Britain."  In  his  notes  of  President  Davies's 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


255 


administration,  Dr.  Green  speaks  of  it  as  "  a  poetic  dialogue,  the 
subject  of  which  was  the  glorious  achievements  of  the  British 
arms  both  by  sea  and  land,"  and  which  was  supposed  by  him 
to  have  been  written  by  President  Davies,  and  to  have  been 
recited  at  the  Commencement  of  1760  (see  his  "Notes,"  page 
339);  but  it  was  a  part  of  the  exercises  of  the  class  of  1762,  at 
least  eighteen  months  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Davies,  and  there 
was  in  this  class  talent  fully  equal  to  such  a  production. 

A  copy  of  this  dramatic  exercise  has  been  recently  given  to 
the  College  library.  It  is  printed  in  a  quarto  pamphlet,  and  on 
its  title-page  it  is  spoken  of  as  performed  at  the  close  of  the 
Commencement  of  1762.  Dr.  Green's  account  of  it  is  given 
from  a  recollection  of  what  he  heard  in  his  boyhood,  as  he 
himself  says. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Board  there  was  a  further  recognition 
of  Mr.  Halsey's  valuable  services,  and  a  vote  to  add  fifteen 
pounds  per  annum  to  his  salary. 

The  President's  salary  was  also  increased  by  adding  to  it 
fifty  pounds  proclamation  money  a  year,  with  the  profits  of  the 
grammar-school ;  and  it  was  voted  that  he  be  paid  his  salary 
half-yearly ;  and,  further,  that  he  should  have  the  privilege  of 
educating  his  sons  at  the  College,  as  in  the  case  of  President 
Davies,  without  charge  for  their  tuition. 

The  following  minute  was  adopted  in  regard  to  the  tuition- 
fees  of  students  entering  advanced  classes  : 

"  The  Trustees  having  considered  the  Law  formerly  made  by  this  Board,  order- 
ing that  the  Students  who  enter  in  any  year  after  the  Freshman  year  should 
pay  the  Tuition  Money  of  the  preceding  years ;  It  is  now  Voted,  That  those  who 
enter  this  year  and  hereafter  shall  enter  the  Sophomore  Class,  shall  only  pay  the 
sum  of  thirty  shillings  proc. ;  and  those  who  enter  the  Junior  year,  shall  pay  the 
sum  of  forty  shillings  entrance  money,  besides  the  ordinary  tuition." 

Among  the  more  important  measures  of  the  Trustees  at  this 
meeting  were  the  following  : 

1.  The  confirming  of  the  gift  of   a  lot  of  land  which  ten 
of  the  Trustees,  not  a  quorum  of  the   Board,  had   made   to 
sundry  inhabitants  of  Princeton  for  the  erection  of  a  church 
building. 

2.  Requesting  Mr.  Wm.  Peartree  Smith,  a  member  of  the 


256        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Board,  to  draw  up  a  full  account  of  the  College  from  its  foun- 
dation, and  to  print  the  same  at  the  expense  of  the  College. 

3.  Ordering  the  erection  of  a  kitchen  for  the  use  of  the  Col- 
lege. 

4.  The  appointment  of  managers  of  the  first  and  only  lottery 
ever  granted  to  the  College  by  the  Legislature  of  the  Province, 
and  the  returning  of  the  thanks  of  the  Board  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  the  privilege  given. 

The  sum  authorized  to  be  raised  by  this  lottery  was  three 
thousand  pounds  proc. 

5.  The   appointment   of  Messrs.  Samuel    Blair   and   James 
Thompson  to  be  Tutors. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday,  the  28th  of 
September,  1763,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commencement.  His 
Excellency  William  Franklin,  Esq.,  recently  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Province,  President  Finley,  and  fourteen  of  the 
Trustees,  were  present  on  this  occasion.  The  Trustees  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  now  afforded  by  the  Governor's 
presence  to  present  to  him  an  address,  which,  with  his  answer, 
is  taken  from  the  "  New  York  Gazette"  of  October  II,  1763, 
there  being  no  reference  to  it  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board : 

"  May  it  please  your  Excellency : 

"  The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  deem  themselves  happy  in  this  op- 
portunity of  presenting  your  Excellency  with  their  respects ;  and  beg  that  you  will 
be  pleased  to  accept  their  congratulations  upon  your  appointment  to  this  Govern- 
ment. They  have  only  to  wish  that  a  more  early  day  had  been  in  their  Power. 

"  Your  Disposition  to  favor  every  Institution  calculated  to  promote  Learning  and 
the  general  Good  of  Mankind  is  not  to  be  doubted ;  and  therefore  with  Pleasure 
we  beg  leave  to  recommend  to  your  Excellency's  Patronage  the  College  under  our 
care.  We  can  assure  you  that  we  have  endeavored  to  form  it  on  such  a  plan,  and 
to  conduct  it  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  it  of  the  most  general  and  extensive  use- 
fulness. Our  Idea  is  to  send  into  the  World  good  Scholars  and  useful  members  of 
Society.  Your  Excellency's  Predecessors,  since  the  founding  of  this  College,  have 
severally,  in  their  turns,  been  pleased  to  think  it  worthy  of  their  regard ;  which, 
with  the  Benefactions  of  the  Public  Spirited  at  home  and  abroad,  under  the  divine 
blessing,  has  brought  it  to  its  present  flourishing  state.  We  hope  for  and  expect  its 
increase  under  your  Excellency's  Influence. 

"  The  Governor  of  this  Colony,  for  the  time  being,  by  the  Charter  of  Incorpora- 
tion is  a  member  and  President  of  our  Board ;  and  we  hope  your  Excellency  will 
be  pleased  to  honor  this  Institution  by  your  personal  attendance  in  these  capacities. 
Your  Excellency  has  our  most  cordial  wishes  for  your  Public  and  Domestic  Hap- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


257 


piness,  and  for  your  Peace,  Comfort,  and  Usefulness  in  the  Administration  of  the 

Government  of  this  Province. 

"  RICHARD  STOCKTON,  Clerk. 

"  To  which  his  Excellency  was  pleased  to  give  the  following  Answer : 

"  GENTLEMEN, — My  cordial  Acknowledgments  are  due  to  you  for  this  obliging 
Testimony  of  your  Regard.  I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  Utility  of  the  Institution 
under  your  care,  and  have  the  highest  opinion  of  the  merits  of  the  Gentlemen  by 
whose  good  Management  it  has  been  brought,  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  to  its 
present  flourishing  condition.  If  my  endeavors  can  in  any  way  contribute  to  the 
further  perfecting  of  this  salutary  work,  you  may  depend  it  shall  never  be  wanting." 

Nineteen  members  of  the  Senior  class  were  admitted  to  their 
first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  eleven  graduates  to  their  second 
degree.  Several  of  those  admitted  to  these  degrees  at  this  time 
became  distinguished  in  the  several  professions. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Beatty  was  chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the  room 
of  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  deceased,  and  John  Berrien,  Esq.,  in 
the  place  of  James  Hude,  Esq. 

Among  the  matters  which  claimed  the  attention  of  the  Board 
at  this  time  was  the  grant  of  a  lot  of  land  which  had  been  made 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Princeton  for  the  erection  of  a  church  edi- 
fice, and  in  reference  to  this  there  is  the  following  minute : 

"  It  is  ordered,  That  Mr.  \Vm.  P.  Smith,  Mr.  Woodruff,  Dr.  Redman,  Mr.  Treat, 
and  Mr.  Brainerd  be  a  committee  to  settle  with  the  Congregation  of  Princeton  the 
matter  respecting  the  lot  of  land  which  this  Board  heretofore  has  ordered  to  be  con- 
veyed to  them,  for  the  erection  of  a  church  and  for  a  burying-ground,  and  that  the 
said  committee  have  full  power  to  offer  the  Congregation  such  terms  as  they  think 
proper,  in  consideration  of  their  releasing  their  claim  to  the  said  lot  of  land,  or  to 
make  such  other  agreement  with  the  said  Congregation  touching  the  premises  as 
the  said  committee  shall  judge  proper." 

"It  appears  from  this  minute,"  says  President  Green,  "that  the  lot  granted  by 
the  Trustees  to  the  Congregation  of  Princeton,  for  the  erection  of  a  church  and  for 
a  burial-ground,  was  expected  to  revert  to  the  College.  This,  however,  did  not 
take  place.  The  transactions  between  the  Trustees  of  the  College  and  the  Congre- 
gation of  Princeton  relative  to  this  concern  were  numerous  and  of  long  continuance. 
A  particular  detail  of  them  will  not  be  given.  The  result  was  that  in  1762  and 
1763  a  church  was  built  on  the  lot  originally  given  by  the  College;  that  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  College  lent  about  ^700  to  the  congregation  to  aid  in  building  the 
church ;  that  a  burial-ground  was  obtained  in  another  place,  as  a  donation  from  Dr. 
Thomas  Wiggins ;  that  the  money  loaned  to  the  congregation  was  eventually  paid  ; 
that  the  inside  of  the  church,  as  well  as  of  the  College  edifice,  was  destroyed  by  the 
British  and  American  armies  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  repaired  at  a  very 
considerable  expense;  that  the  church  was  entirely  consumed,  except  the  walls, 
which  were  of  brick,  by  a  fire  which  took  place  by  accident  in  February,  1813; 


258        HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY.      . 

that  it  was  rebuilt  at  the  expense  of  the  congregation,  with  the  aid  of  $500  con- 
tributed by  the  College ;  that  the  College  has  by  contract  an  exclusive  right  to  the 
church  on  the  day  of  Commencement,  on  the  evening  that  precedes  it,  and  at  such 
other  times  as  the  faculty  shall  state  in  writing  that  it  is  needed  for  the  public  ex- 
ercises of  the  institution ;  and  also  a  claim  to  one-half  the  gallery  for  the  use  of 
the  students  on  the  Sabbath." 

Upon  what  authority  Dr.  Green  says  that  the  burial-ground 
mentioned  above  was  the  gift  of  Dr.  Wiggins  the  writer  of  this 
history  is  unable  to  discover;  and  he  apprehends  that  it  is  an 
error,  and  that  the  error  arose  from  the  fact  that  Dr.  Wiggins, 
either  then  or  subsequently,  owned  some  twenty  acres  of  land, 
more  or  less,  adjacent  to  the  lot  used  by  the  College  and  con- 
gregation for  a  burial-ground,  and  which  lot  was  purchased  by 
the  College  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Leonard,  in  1757,  several  years 
prior  to  these  transactions  between  the  College  and  the  people 
of  the  town.  Of  Judge  Leonard's  deed  to  the  College  mention 
is  made  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Board,  pages 
193,  340,  and  361.  The  cemetery  now  in  possession  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Princeton  is  an  enlargement  of  the 
above-mentioned  burial-ground  by  adding  to  it  several  acres 
of  land,  a  part  of  Dr.  Wiggins's  real  estate,  bequeathed  by  him, 
in  1804,  to  the  trustees  of  said  church. 

The  church  was  burnt  again  in  the  summer  of  1834,  and  was 
rebuilt  at  the  expense  of  the  congregation,  with  some  aid  from 
the  College,  at  which  time  the  College  relinquished  all  claim  to 
the  use  of  the  church  for  public  exercises,  with  the  exception 
of  those  connected  with  the  annual  Commencement. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Board  measures  were  taken  for  the 
purchase  of  a  small  lot  of  ground  adjacent  to  the  College 
grounds,  and  belonging  to  Mr.  Robert  Smith,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  architect  and  builder  of  the  College  edifice. 

The  next  minute  of  the  Board  is  important,  as  indicating  the 
time  when  the  spring  vacation  began,  and  is  as  follows  :  "  It  is 
ordered,  that  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  be  attended  on  Wednes- 
day before  the  second  Monday  in  April  next,  at  which  time  the 
Spring  vacation  begins." 

The  annual  Commencement  at  this  time  was  held  on  the  last 
Wednesday  in  September,  and  the  autumnal  vacation  began  at 
the  close  of  the  Commencement  exercises.  This  plan  of  having 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


259 


two  terms  and  two  vacations  continued  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years,  viz.,  from  the  foundation  of  the  College  until  the  year 
1867,  in  which  year  the  plan  of  having  three  terms  and  three 
vacations  was  introduced.  But  before  this,  viz.,  in  1844,  a 
change  was  made  in  the  day  of  holding  the  Commencement 
from  the  last  Wednesday  in  September  to  the  last  Wednesday 
in  June,  and  a  corresponding  change  occurred  in  the  College 
terms  and  vacations. 

Mr.  Wm.  P.  Smith  having  declined  the  service  of  drawing  up 
an  account  of  the  College,  the  President  of  the  College,  Rev. 
Dr.  Finley,  was  desired  to  do  the  same,  and  to  have  his  draft 
ready  to  lay  before  the  Board  at  their  next  meeting  in  the  ensu- 
ing spring. 

The  salaries  of  the  President  and  of  the  Tutors  were  all  in- 
creased at  this  meeting  of  the  Board :  the  President's  to  three 
hundred  pounds  proc.  per  annum,  the  Senior  Tutor's  to  seventy- 
five  pounds,  and  those  of  the  two  Junior  Tutors  to  sixty-five 
pounds  each ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  late  Tutor,  Mr.  Ker, 
should  be  allowed  twenty-five  pounds  in  addition  to  his  salary. 

It  was  also  ordered,  "That  an  English  School  be  forthwith 
erected  in  this  College,  which  is  to  be  under  the  inspection  and 
government  of  the  President  of  the  College  for  the  time  being." 

A  grammar-school,  in  connection  with  the  College,  was  es- 
tablished in  Mr.  Burr's  time.  Respecting  these  schools  the 
following  remarks  occur  in  the  account  of  the  College  published 
by  order  of  the  Trustees,  in  1764 : 

"  There  is  a  grammar-school  annexed  to  the  College  as  a  nursery  for  it,  under  the 
general  inspection  of  the  President,  though  not  a  part  of  the  original  constitution. 
This  was  first  set  up  by  President  Burr,  and  has  been  handed  down  to  his  succes- 
sors, the  Trustees  taking  it  under  their  patronage  during  the  several  vacancies  in 
that  office.  Besides  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  into  which  the  youth  are  here 
initiated,  they  have  been  early  taught  the  graces  of  a  good  delivery,  and  spent  a 
small  portion  of  every  day  in  improving  their  handwriting,  for  which  purpose  a 
proper  attendant  hath  been  hitherto  provided.  But  this  expedient  being  found  by 
experience  not  fully  to  answer  those  purposes,  it  was  lately  judged  proper  that  an 
English  school  should  be  also  established,  for  the  sole  intention  of  teaching  young 
lads  to  write  well,  to  cipher,  and  to  pronounce  and  read  the  English  tongue  with 
accuracy  and  precision." 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  occurred  on  Wednesday,  the 


26o        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

2Oth  of  June,  1764.  At  this  meeting  there  were  present  his 
Excellency  Governor  Franklin,  President  Finley,  and  thirteen 
other  Trustees.  Robert  Ogden,  Esq.,  of  Elizabethtown,  New 
Jersey,  was  chosen  Trustee  of  the  College,  in  the  room  of  the 
Rev.  David  Bostwick,  deceased,  and  the  Rev.  Lambert  De  Ronde, 
of  New  York,  in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  resigned. 

"  The  President  informed  the  Board  that  he  had  erected  an  English  school  in  the 
College,  and  employed  a  master  for  that  purpose,"  of  which  the  Board  expressed 
their  approval,  and  desired  the  President  "to  carry  on  the  same  in  such  manner  as 
he  shall  think  most  advantageous  for  the  College." 

The  following  minute  occurs  in  reference  to  Mr.  Samuel 
Blair,  who,  two  years  after,  was  chosen  President  of  the  College, 
but  who  declined  the  appointment  upon  learning  that  Dr.  With- 
erspoon  was  willing  to  accept  the  Presidency  should  he  receive 
a  second  invitation  so  to  do : 

"  The  Trustees  having  received  information  that  Mr.  Samuel  Blair,  lately  a 
Tutor  of  this  College,  has  done  extraordinary  services  in  his  office,  it  is  ordered, 
That  ^25  be  presented  to  the  said  Mr.  Blair  by  the  Treasurer  in  consideration 
thereof." 

There  is  no  intimation  whatever  as  to  the  character  of  these 
extraordinary  services,  and,  for  some  good  reason,  no  doubt, 
nothing  further  is  said  in  regard  to  them.  At  the  preceding 
meeting  of  the  Board,  in  September,  1763,  the  President  of  the 
College,  Dr.  Finley,  was  requested  to  prepare  for  publication  an 
account  of  the  College.  It  is  probable  that  the  declining  state 
of  his  health  and  his  various  and  arduous  duties  prevented  his 
attending  to  this  matter  personally,  and  that  he  placed  the  ma- 
terials for  such  a  history  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Blair  to  prepare 
the  desired  account ;  that  it  was  written  by  Mr.  Blair  under  the 
direction  and,  it  may  be,  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Finley, 
and  printed  by  order  of  the  Trustees,  as  stated  in  the  title-page 
of  the  pamphlet  containing  said  account,  although  no  mention 
of  any  of  these  things  is  made  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

This  account  is  spoken  of  by  President  Green  and  others  as  Dr.  Finley's  history 
of  the  College.  But  the  writer's  name  is  not  given  on  the  title-page,  and  the 
pamphlet  itself  is  entitled  "  An  Account  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  which  are 
described  the  Methods  of  Government,  Modes  of  Instruction,  Manner  and  Expenses 
of  Living  in  the  same,  &c.,  with  a  Prospect  of  the  College  neatly  engraved.  Pub- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  TL'E  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY.     26l 

lished,  by  order  of  the  Trustees,  for  the  information  of  the  public,  particularly  of 
the  friends  and  benefactors  of  the  institution  in  Europe  and  America.  Woodbriclge 
in  New  Jersey.  Printed  by  James  Parker,  1764." 

From  a  comparison  of  dates,  it  appears  that  the  presenting  of 
the  twenty-five  pounds  took  place  the  very  year  in  which  the 
account  of  the  College  was  published  by  order  of  the  Board. 
The  conj'ecture  given  above  finds  abundant  corroboration  in  the 
fact  that  within  a  few  years  after  its  publication  the  pamphlet  is 
mentioned  as  the  work  of  Mr.  Blair.  Mr.  Madison,  the  fourth 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  a  student  and  a  graduate  in 
1771  of  the  College.  In  a  letter  of  his,  of  the  date  of  August 
1 6,  1769,  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Martin,  who  had  been  an  inmate 
of  his  father's  family  and  Mr.  Madison's  tutor,  this  sentence 
occurs  :  "  I  have  been  as  particular  to  my  father  as  I  thought 
necessary  for  this  time,  as  I  send  him  an  account  of  the  institu- 
tion wrote  by  Mr.  Blair,  the  gentleman  formerly  elected  Presi- 
dent of  this  place."  (See  Mr.  Madison's  letter  in  Professor 
Cameron's  "  History  of  the  American  Whig  Society,"  pages 
231,  232.) 

The  manner  in  which  Dr.  Finley  and  his  administration  of 
the  College  are  spoken  of  in  the  pamphlet  makes  it  evident 
that  the  pamphlet  was  not  all  written  by  him,  and  the  unity 
of  the  style  shows  it  to  be  the  work  of  one  individual,  and  that 
individual  we  believe  to  be  Mr.  Blair. 

Here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  that  in  the  view  given  of 
the  origin  of  the  College  we  differ  from  Mr.  Blair,  who  speaks 
of  the  College  only  under  the  second  charter,  and  who  prob- 
ably was  not  aware  that  the  College  was  in  existence  under  a 
previous  charter,  given  by  the  Honorable  John  Hamilton,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  and  acting  Governor  of  the  Province. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  aim  of  some  of  the  leading 
friends  of  the  College,  after  the  granting  of  the  second  charter, 
to  regard  Governor  Belcher  as  its  founder;  and  Mr.  Blair  not 
unnaturally  adopted  their  view  of  the  case.  But,  for  reasons 
assigned  in  the  chapter  on  the  College  charters,  it  is  only  in  a 
very  limited  sense  that  he  can  be  styled  its  founder. 

The  pamphlet  here  referred  to  is  one  of  forty-eight  pages, 
small  octavo,  neatly  printed ;  and  of  course  the  account  given 


262        HISTORY   OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

of  the  origin  of  the  institution,  and  of  its  progress  and  con- 
dition for  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  must  be  a  very  succinct 
one.  Still,  it  is  a  very  valuable  work  to  any  one  desirous  to 
learn  the  state  of  the  College  at  the  time  of  its  publication. 

Of  the  meeting  of  the  Board  and  of  the  exercises  at  the 
Commencement  September  26,  1764,  there  is  no  record  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Trustees.  Two  blank  pages  were  left  for  the 
insertion  of  these  minutes. 

It  appears  from  the  minutes  of  September  25,  1765,  that  the 
Rev.  John  Rodgers,  then  of  St.  George's,  Delaware,  afterwards 
of  New  York  City,  was  chosen  a  Trustee  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Board  in  September,  1764.  And  in  the  triennial  catalogue  are 
given  the  names  of  those  who  were  admitted  to  their  first  de- 
gree in  the  Arts.  The  programme  of  the  Commencement  exer- 
cises for  the  year  1764  gives  the  names  of  all  who  took  part  in 
these  exercises,  with  the  exception  of  the  Salutatory  and  Vale- 
dictory orators.  (See  pages  268-272,  post.} 

The  next  Commencement  of  the  College  was  held  on  Wed- 
nesday, the  25th  of  September,  1765,  and  it  was  the  last  one 
at  which  President  Finley  presided.  The  College  was  in  a 
very  flourishing  condition,  the  number  of  students  larger  than 
at  any  previous  date  in  the  history  of  the  institution,  the  atten- 
tion to  study  and  the  orderly  behavior  of  the  students  highly 
commendable.  Thirty-one  members  of  the  Senior  class  were 
admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  eleven  to  their 
second  degree. 

Dr.  William  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia,  was  chosen  a  Trustee, 
in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  John  Pierson,  resigned,  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Periam  was  chosen  a  Tutor.  Mr.  Periam  was  also  chosen 
Clerk  of  the  Board,  in  the  room  of  Richard  Stockton,  Esq., 
resigned.  It  appears  from  the  minutes  that  Mr.  Periam  had 
discharged  the  duties  of  a  Tutor  during  the  previous  year 
without  a  formal  appointment  by  the  Board. 

The  President  of  the  College  having  informed  the  Board  that 
sundry  inconveniences  had  resulted  from  having  the  English 
school  kept  in  the  College  building,  he  was  requested  to  make 
provision  for  it  elsewhere,  and  in  such  manner  as  he  thought 
proper. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FIN  LEY. 


263 


The  first  order  touching  the  planting  of  shade-trees  on  the 
College  grounds  was  passed  at  this  meeting  of  the  Board;  and  it 
may  interest  the  students  and  graduates  of  the  College  to  know 
that  the  two  very  large  sycamore-trees  standing  near  the  front 
gate  of  the  President's  yard  at  this  date,  December  6,  1872,  and 
in  their  full  vigor,  are  the  remnants  of  the  trees  planted  in  the 
autumn  of  1765. 

The  President's  salary  was  increased  one  hundred  pounds. 

It  was  ordered,  that  every  student  and  graduate,  the  officers 
of  the  College  excepted,  who  makes  use  of  the  College  library, 
should  pay  the  sum  of  two  shillings  and  sixpence  every  quar- 
ter of  a  year,  to  be  expended  for  the  use  of  the  library.  And 
it  was  further  ordered,  that  no  student  of  the  College  should  be 
allowed  to  have  the  key  of  the  library;  and  that  every  person 
who  is  admitted  there  should  be  introduced  by  one  of  the  officers 
of  the  College. 

The  door  to  the  cupola  of  the  College  was  ordered  to  be  kept 
constantly  locked;  it  was  also  ordered  that  no  person  should 
be  permitted  to  have  the  key  but  the  President,  the  Tutors, 
the  Steward,  and  the  servant  charged  with  the  care  of  the 
belfry.  The  main  object  of  this  order  was  probably  to  guard 
against  the  danger  from  fire,  the  roof  and  belfry  being  wholly 
of  wood,  although  the  outer  walls  were  entirely  of  stone  and 
all  the  inner  walls  of  brick.  Every  possible  care  was  taken  by 
the  College  authorities,  both  before  and  at  this  time,  to  protect 
the  building  from  fire, — by  digging  an  additional  well,  and  pro- 
viding a  fire-engine,  ladders  and  buckets,  and  everything  that 
would  be  of  use  in  case  of  a  fire.  These  precautions  were  all 
right  and  proper,  and  may  have  prevented  an  earlier  destruction 
of  the  main  building  than  that  which  took  place  in  March,  1802. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Nassau  Hall,  on 
Wednesday,  the  25th  of  June,  1766.  From  the  minutes  of  this 
date  it  appears  that  the  Trustees  received,  by  the  hands  of  Dr. 
Redman,  one  of  their  number,  an  order  for  one  hundred  pounds 
sterling,  for  the  use  of  the  College,  in  support  of  a  Divinity 
professor.  This  was  the  gift  of  Mr.  John  Williamson,  of  Han- 
over, Virginia,  to  whom  the  Board  returned  their  thanks  for 
his  generous  donation.  And  the  gift  was  as  seasonable  as  it 


264        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

was  generous,  for  it  enabled  the  Board  not  long  after  to  appoint 
a  Professor  of  Divinity,  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  John  Blair. 
The  order  was  upon  Mr.  Samuel  Waterman,  of  London ;  and 
the  obtaining  of  the  money  was  intrusted  to  the  care  of  Richard 
Stockton,  Esq.,  a  member  of  the  Board,  who  had  gone  to  New 
York  on  his  way  to  London,  on  his  private  affairs,  but  who 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  render  the  College  not 
only  this  particular  service,  but  others  of  even  greater  moment, 
as  will  appear  in  the  course  of  this  history. 

A  committee,  consisting  of  the  Honorable  William  Smith 
and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  De  Ronde  and  Rodgers,  was  appointed  to 
prepare  an  address  to  his  Majesty  "  for  his  gracious  condescen- 
sion to  these  Colonies  in  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act ;"  and  also 
a  petition,  to  be  presented  at  the  same  time,  for  a  grant  of  sixty 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  Province  of  New  York,  from  the 
lands  then  recently  added  to  New  York  from  the  Province  of 
New  Hampshire.  The  address  and  the  petition  were  accord- 
ingly prepared,  and,  being  signed  by  the  Honorable  Edward 
Shippen,  the  acting  President  of  the  Board  at  this  meeting, 
were  sent  to  Mr.  Stockton,  with  the  request  that  he  should 
take  such  measures  and  engage  such  friends  of  this  institution 
in  London  to  assist  him  in  this  matter  as  he  should  be  advised 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chandler  would  be  most  expedient.  A  letter 
was  written  by  the  committee  to  the  reverend  Doctor,  soliciting 
his  aid.  The  Dr.  Chandler  here  spoken  of  is  the  same  gen- 
tleman who  is  mentioned  by  Mr.  Davies  as  exercising  his  friendly 
offices  in  behalf  of  the  College  at  the  time  Messrs.  Tennent  and 
Davies  visited  London. 

Upon  his  return  home,  Mr.  Stockton  reported  to  the  Board  "  that  he  had  the 
honor  of  presenting  to  his  Majesty  the  address  of  the  Trustees,  which  was  very 
graciously  received ;  that  the  petition  was  lodged  in  the  Plantation  Office ;  and 
that  my  Lord  Shelburne  had  promised  him  to  lay  the  same  before  the  King  in 
Council."  The  Board  returned  their  thanks  to  Mr.  Stockton  for  his  services  to  the 
College  while  in  Great  Britain. 

Whether  the  petition  was  ever  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
King  and  Council  is  not  known;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that 
it  did  not  obtain  for  the  College  the  grant  of  land  asked  for  in 
the  petition. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


265 


"  The  Rev.  Mr.  De  Ronde"  (of  New  York) "  having  laid  before 
the  Board  a  plan  for  the  introduction  of  a  professor  of  divinity 
to  be  obtained  from  Holland,  for  the  service  of  the  Dutch  as  well 
as  English  Presbyterian  Churches  in  these  parts,  the  Trustees 
having  maturely  considered  the  same,  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  proposal  is  not  yet  ripe  for  prosecution,  and  therefore  defer 
the  further  consideration  thereof  to  the  next  meeting."  At  the 
next  meeting  it  was  again  deferred,  and  this  was  the  end  of  it. 
In  1769,  Mr.  De  Ronde  resigned  his  place  at  the  Board. 

"  It  was  ordered,  That  no  student  hereafter  board  out  of  the  College  unless  by 
permission  of  the  President,  or,  in  his  absence,  of  the  next  senior  officer,  to  be  given 
only  in  case  the  student  applying  for  such  permission  produce  a  certificate  of  a 
physician  that  the  state  of  his  health  renders  such  an  indulgence  necessary." 

Dr.  Finley  was  not  present  at  this  meeting  of  the  Board. 
The  cause  of  his  absence  is  apparent  from  the  following 
minutes : 

"  As  Dr.  Finley,  the  President  of  this  College,  is  now  in  a  languishing  state,  and 
as  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  will  be  removed  by  death  before  the  next  Com- 
mencement, or  at  least  that  he  will  be  unable  to  preside  at  the  public  exercises  on 
that  occasion,  the  Trustees  have  unanimously  appointed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spencer 
to  preside  on  that  day,  and  to  confer  the  degrees  in  the  usual  manner ;  and  the  said 
Mr.  Spencer  was  pleased  to  signify  his  acquiescence  in  this  appointment.  And  the 
Trustees  do  further  direct,  that  in  case  of  the  President's  death,  the  fees  and  per- 
quisites usually  paid  to  the  President  for  the  degrees  be  received  by  the  eldest 
Tutor,  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Trustees  shall  hereafter  direct." 

"  It  having  pleased  our  holy  God  to  visit  Dr.  Finley,  the  worthy  President  of 
this  College,  with  great  and  distressing  illness,  whereby  he  is  at  present  entirely 
unable  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  important  station ;  and  it  appearing  necessary  for 
the  welfare  of  this  institution  that  some  person  be  invested  with  the  power  and  author- 
ity of  the  President,  in  order  the  better  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Seminary  ;  this 
Board  have  appointed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wm.  Tennent  to  act  in  the  room  and  stead  of 
President  Finley  during  his  absence,  and  do  hereby  invest  him  with  full  power  and 
authority  to  execute  the  said  office  until  next  Commencement,  or  during  President 
Finley's  absence  and  disability;  and  Mr.  Tennent  was  qualified  accordingly." 

Dr.  Finley  died  on  the  i/th  of  July,  1766,  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  to  which  city  he  had  gone  that  he  might  have 
the  benefit  of  the  best  medical  skill,  and  he  was  buried  there 
by  the  side  of  his  intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent. 

The  following  references  to  his  illness  and  death,  and  to 
the  services  of  Messrs.  William  Tennent,  Spencer,  and  Halsey, 
occur  in  the  minutes  of  this  meeting  of  the  Board: 
VOL.  i. — 18 


266        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY, 

"  The  Trustees  taking  into  consideration  the  good  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Tennent  since  the  disability  and  death  of  the  late  Rev'd  and  worthy  Dr.  Finley, 
do  unanimously  agree  to  present  the  said  Mr.  Tennent  with  the  sum  of  twenty 
pounds,  besides  defraying  his  necessary  expenses  in  town  during  that  time ;  and 
also  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Elihu  Spencer,  the  sum  of  ten  pounds,  in  consideration  of  his 
presiding  and  conferring  the  degrees  at  the  public  Commencement;  both  which 
sums  Mr.  Baldwin,  the  Steward,  is  directed  to  pay  the  said  gentlemen." 

"  Whereas  sundry  weighty  and  important  reasons  have  induced  this  Board  to 
augment  the  late  worthy  President's  salary,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  sum  of  ^400 ; 
but  inasmuch  as  the  occasion  of  the  late  necessary  augmentation  is  removed,  and 
the  present  low  state  of  the  College  funds  will  not  allow  this  Board  to  continue  that 
salary  for  the  future  in  its  present  circumstances ;  it  is  agreed,  therefore,  that  the 
stated  salary  of  the  next  President  shall  be  ^250,  with  the  usual  perquisites." 

"  The  Trustees  also  considering  the  great  and  important  services  that  have  been 
rendered  to  this  institution  by  Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  over  and  above  the  necessary 
duties  of  his  office  as  Tutor  of  the  College,  do,  in  consideration  of  his  extraordi- 
nary and  faithful  services,  unanimously  agree  that  the  sum  of  sixty-one  pounds, 
being  the  graduation  money,  by  calculation,  now  in  his  hands,  be  presented  to  him, 
or  whatever  the  fees  may  amount  to,  be  the  same  more  or  less." 

Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  a  son  of  President  Edwards,  was 
unanimously  chosen  a  Tutor  of  the  College,  in  the  room  of  Mr. 
Periam,  resigned. 

The  following  extracts,  from  the  authorized  account  of  the  College  mentioned 
above,  will  show  the  course  of  instruction  during  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Finley.  (See 
pp.  23-30.) 

"  As  to  the  branches  of  literature  taught  here,  they  are  the  same  with  those  which 
are  made  parts  of  education  in  the  European  Colleges,  save  only  such  as  may  be 
occasioned  by  the  infancy  of  this  institution.  The  students  are  divided  into  four 
distinct  classes,  which  are  called  the  Freshman,  the  Sophomore,  the  Junior,  and 
the  Senior.  In  each  of  these  they  continue  one  year,  giving  and  receiving  in  their 
turns  those  tokens  of  respect  and  subjection  which  belong  to  their  standings,  in 
order  to  preserve  a  due  subordination.  The  Freshman  year  is  spent  in  Latin  and 
Greek  languages,  particularly  in  reading  Horace,  Cicero's  Orations,  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment, Lucian's  Dialogues,  and  Xenophorfs  Cyropadia.  In  the  Sophomore  year  they 
still  prosecute  the  study  of  the  languages,  particularly  Homer,  Longinus,  &c.,and 
enter  upon  the  sciences,  geography,  rhetoric,  logic,  and  the  mathematics.  They  con- 
tinue their  mathematical  studies  throughout  the  Junior  year,  and  also  pass  through 
a  course  of  natural  and  moral  philosophy,  metaphysics,  chronology,  &c. ;  and  the 
greater  number,  especially  such  as  are  educating  for  the  service  of  the  church,  are 
initiated  into  the  Hebrew.  .  .  .  The  Senior  year  is  entirely  employed  in  reviews 
and  composition.  They  now  revise  the  most  improving  parts  of  Latin  and  Greek 
classics,  part  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  all  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  weekly 
course  of  disputation  is  continued,  which  was  also  carried  on  through  the  preceding 
year.  They  discuss  two  or  three  theses  in  a  week ;  some  in  the  syllogistic  and  others 
in  the  forensic  manner,  alternately ;  the  forensic  being  always  performed  in  the  Eng- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FJNLEY.     26/ 

lish  tongue.  A  series  of  questions  is  also  prepared  on  the  principal  subjects  of 
natural  and  revealed  religion.  These  (disputations)  are  delivered  publicly,  on  Sun- 
days, before  a  promiscuous  congregation,  as  well  as  the  College,  in  order  to  habituate 
them  early  to  face  an  assembly,  as  also  for  other  important  and  religious  ends,  to 
which  they  are  found  conducive.  There  is  likewise  a  monthly  oration-day,  when 
harangues,  or  orations  of  their  own  composition,  are  pronounced  before  a  mixed 
auditory.  All  these  compositions  before  mentioned  are  critically  examined  with 
respect  to  language,  orthography,  pointing,  capitalizing,  with  other  minutiae,  as  well 
as  more  material  properties  of  accurate  writing." 

"  Besides  these  exercises  in  writing  and  speaking,  most  of  which  are  proper  to  the 
Senior  class,  on  every  Monday  three,  and  on  other  evenings  of  the  week,  excepting 
Saturdays  and  Sundays,  two  out  of  each  of  the  three  inferior  classes,  in  rotation,  pro- 
nounce declamations  of  their  own  composing  on  the  stage.  These  too  are  pre- 
viously examined  and  corrected,  and  occasion  taken  from  them  early  to  form  a 
taste  for  good  writing.  The  same  classes  also,  in  rotation,  three  on  Tuesday  even- 
ings, and  two  on  other  evenings,  with  the  exceptions  just  mentioned,  pronounce,  in 
like  manner,  such  select  pieces  from  Cicero,  Demosthenes,  Livy,  and  other  ancient 
authors,  and  from  Shakspeare,  Milton,  Addison,  and  such  illustrious  moderns,  as 
are  best  adapted  to  display  the  various  passions,  and  exemplify  the  graces  of  utter- 
ance and  gesture.  A  good  address,  and  agreeable  elocution,  are  accomplishments 
so  ingratiating,  and  so  necessary  to  render  a  public  speaker,  especially,  popular, 
and  consequently  useful,  that  they  are  esteemed  here  as  considerable  parts  of  edu- 
cation, in  the  cultivation  of  which  no  little  pains  are  employed. 

"  The  classics  are  taught,  for  the  three  first  years,  in  nearer  the  usual  method  of 
grammar-schools  than  in  the  last.  The  students  then  revise  them,  principally  as 
examples  of  fine  composition.  They  first  give  a  more  literal  translation  of  a  para- 
graph, afterwards  the  sense  in  a  paraphrase  of  their  own,  and  then  criticise  upon 
the  beauties  of  the  author.  In  which  work  they  are  assisted  by  the  President.  No 
authors  are  read  more  particularly  with  this  view  than  Homer,  Horace,  and  espe- 
cially Longinus.  .  .  . 

"  Each  class  recites  twice  a  day :  and  have  always  free  access  to  their  teachers, 
to  solve  any  difficulties  that  may  occur.  The  bell  rings  for  morning  prayer  at  six 
o'clock,  when  the  Senior  class  read  off  a  chapter  from  the  original  into  English. 
The  president  then  proposes  a  few  critical  questions  upon  it,  which,  after  their  concise 
answers,  he  illustrates  more  at  large.  The  times  of  relaxation  from  study  are 
about  an  hour  in  the  morning,  two  at  noon,  and  three  in  the  evening;  and  in  these 
are  included  the  public  meals.  Evening  prayer  is  ahvays  introduced  with  psalmody ; 
and  care  is  taken  to  improve  the  youth  in  the  art  of  sacred  music." 

"  The  usual  method  of  instruction  in  the  sciences  is  this.  The  pupils  frequently 
and  deliberately  read  over  such  a  portion  of  the  author  they  are  studying,  on  a  par- 
ticular science,  as  it  is  judged  they  can  be  able  thoroughly  to  impress  upon  their 
memories.  When  they  attend  their  recitations,  the  tutor  proposes  questions  on 
every  particular  they  have  been  reading.  After  they  have  given,  in  their  turns, 
such  answers  as  show  their  general  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  he  explains 
it  more  at  large;  allows  them  to  propose  any  difficulties;  and  takes  pains  to 
discover  whether  his  explications  be  fully  comprehended.  Advantages  which  are 
seldom  attainable  in  the  usual  method  of  teaching  by  lecture. 


268        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  In  the  instruction  of  the  youth,  care  is  taken  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  liberty  and 
free  enquiry ;  and  not  only  to  permit,  but  even  encourage  their  right  of  private 
judgment,  without  presuming  to  dictate  with  an  air  of  infallibility,  or  demanding 
an  implicit  assent  to  the  decisions  of  the  preceptor." 

"  The  Senior,  Junior,  and  (towards  the  conclusion  of  their  year)  the  Sophomore 
classes  are  allowed  the  free  use  of  the  college  library,  .  .  .  and  especially  to  assist 
them  in  preparing  their  disputations  and  other  compositions."  .  .  . 

"  On  the  third  Wednesday  in  August  annually,*  the  Senior  class  are  examined 
by  the  trustees,  the  college  officers,  and  other  gentlemen  of  learning  then  present, 
throughout  all  the  branches  of  literature  they  have  been  here  taught.  And  if 
approved  as  worthy  of  academical  honors,  the  president  assigns  them  the  parts 
they  are  respectively  to  perform  at  the  anniversary  commencement;  the  general 
proceedings  of  which  are  so  publicly  known  as  to  supersede  all  necessity  of  descrip- 
tion. They  are  then  graduated  Bachelors  of  Arts.  After  an  interval  of  three  years 
they  are  usually  admitted  to  the  Master's  degree."  .  .  . 

The  rules  adopted,  while  Mr.  Davies  was  President,  in  reference  to  the  con- 
ferring of  the  second  degree  in  the  Arts  (see  page  210),  continued  in  force 
during  the  administration  of  President  Finley.  Although  the  author  of  the  above 
extracts  deemed  the  general  proceedings  at  the  annual  Commencements  to  be  so 
well  known  to  the  public  as  to  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  any  mention  of  them 
as  they  were  at  that  time ;  still,  the  students  and  graduates  of  the  present  day  will 
read  with  pleasure  the  following  programme  of  the  Commencement  exercises  of 
1764,  copied  from  Dr.  Green's  Sketch  of  the  College. 

Dr.  Green  transcribed  it  from  a  paper  in  the  handwriting  of  President  Finley, 
sent  to  him  by  Dr.  James  Edwards  Burr  Finley,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
a  son  of  President  Finley.  This  gentleman  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Green  under  the 
name  of  Ebenezer  Finley,  which  was  the  name  of  an  elder  brother,  who  died  several 
years  before  Dr.  Green  received  the  paper. 

"  THE    PROCESS,  ETC. 

The  Trustees,  being  at  the  President's  house,  the  candidates  standing  at  the  door, 
two  and  two,  upon  his  saying, 

Progredimini  Juvenes,  they  walk, — 

1.  The  Bachelor  candidates. 

2.  The  Masters. 

3.  The  Tutors  and  any  Ministers  present. 

4.  The  Trustees. 

5.  The  President, — the  Governor  at  his  right  hand. 

All  seated,  Prayer  succeeds. 

Praeses  (capite  tecto). 

'  Auditores  docti  ac  benevoli,  Juvenes  priniam  Lauream  ambientes,  cupiunt  vos 
per  Oratorem  salutare ;  quod  illis  a  vobis  concessum  fidunt.' 
Ascendat  Orator  Salutatorius. 


*  At  first  the  final  examination  took  place  on  the  last  Wednesday  in  July. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


269 


Distribuantur  Theses. 
*********** 

Quoniam,  docti  Auditores,  accurata  disputancli  Ratio  ad  verum  a  falso  secer- 
nendum  plurimum  valet,  Juvenes  Artibus  initiati,  parvula  quaedam  eorum  in  ea 
specimina,  vobis  jam  sunt  exhibituri. 

Prima  Disputatio,  syllogistice  tractanda 

Thesis  est, 

Mentiri,  ut  vel  Natio  conservetur,  haud  fas  est. 
Qui  hanc  Thesin  probare  atque  defendere  statuit,  ascendat. 

Foster 
Qui  Thesin  oppugnari  judicavit,  ascendat. 

Primus  Opponens Lawrence. 

Quanquam  concederetur  Sermonem  ad  felicitatem  hominum  provehendam  consti- 
tutum  fuisse,  attamen  non  seque  nobis  constat  quid  semper  ad  eum  finem  conducit ; 
sed  majus  credendum  est  Mendacium  nunquam  ad  eum  facere;  dum  exemplum 
Virtutis  omnibus  prodesse  potest. 

Secundus  Opponens Smith. 

Determinatio. 

Mentiri,  quacunque  de  causa,  ignobile  et  sua  Natura  pravum  esse,  res  ipsa 
clamat,  et  ferme  ab  omnibus,  prsecipue  Virtutem  colentibus,  conceditur.  Quod  si 
omnino  fas  esse  possit,  Deus  comprobat ;  et  si  ille  possit  probare,  non  est  neces- 
sario  verax;  sed  impossibile  est  eum  mentiri,  ergo  et  mendacium  probare. 

Nee  ratio  Veritatis  ab  hominum  Felicitate,  sed  Dei  Rectitudine  pendet ;  et 
quoniam  sibi  semper  constare  necesse  est,  non  potest  non  esse  rectus.  Ergo  falsum 
necessario  improbat,  ut  ejus  naturae  oppositum;  et  vetat  Malum  facere,  ut  quidvis 
Bonum  inde  sequatur,  etiam  ut  Natio  conservetur. 

*********** 

The  following  is  an  English  forensick  Dispute,  which,  for  Reasons  often  men- 
tioned, is  introduced,  viz.,  it  entertains  the  English  part  of  the  Audience,  tends  to 
the  cultivation  of  our  native  language,  and  has  been  agreeable  on  former  occasions ; 
which  I  presume  are  sufficient  apologies  for  continuing  the  custom. 

The  Thesis  is — 

Somnia  non  sunt  universaliter  inania,  et  nihil  significantia. 

In  English — 

All  dreams  are  not  useless  and  insignificant. 

Who  undertakes  the  defence  of  this  position  ? — Miller. 

Whoever  has  any  objections  against  what  has  been  offered,  let  him  speak. — 
Tredwell. 

Who  judges  it  fit  to  answer  these  objections  ? — McCreery. 

Determination. 

Although  I  see  no  necessity  of  accounting  for  all  dreams  from  the  Agency  of 
other  Spirits  (any  more  than  to  interest  them  in  the  Reveries  of  the  mind,  when 
lost  in  mere  imaginary  scenes,  while  we  are  awake,  without  reflecting  that  they  are 
not  realities) ;  yet  that  foreign  Spirits  have  access  to  ours,  as  well  when  we  are 
asleep  as  awake,  is  inconsistent  with  no  Principle  of  Reason.  And  if  some  dreams 
cannot  be  otherwise  accounted  for,  than  by  having  recourse  to  foreign  Spirits,  we 
must  then  admit  their  agency ;  since  there  can  be  no  effect  without  a  cause.  And 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

though  it  must  be  granted  that  our  own  Spirits  at  the  same  time  think,  yet  there  is 
no  Inconsistency  in  supposing  that  other  Spirits  gave  Occasion  to  their  thinking  of 
some  subjects  rather  than  others,  as  is  the  case  in  conversing  together  when  we 
are  awake. 

What  has  been  matter  of  fact  is  certainly  still  possible ;  and  we  know  that  in 
some  cases  infinite  Wisdom  chose  to  employ  Angels  to  communicate  divine  Instruc- 
tions in  Dreams,  which  establishes  the  general  Doctrine.  And  Experience  assures 
us  that  Impressions  made  on  these  Occasions  are  very  deep  and  lively ;  and,  as  has 
been  observed,  those  very  Dreams,  that  come  from  fulness  of  Business,  or  other 
causes  mentioned,  shew  us  the  Temper  of  our  Minds,  and  in  that  view  are  useful 
and  significant. 

*  *  *  *  **•*##.** 

To  unbend  the  Mind  by  an  agreeable  Variety,  as  far  as  may  consist  with  the 
Exercises  of  the  Day,  an  English  intermediate  Oration  is  next  to  be  delivered. 
Ascendat  Orator  intermedius. 

*  *  *  •*  #  *  ***  *  *  * 

Thesis  proxime  discutienda,  modo  pene  forensi,  est, 

Lux  Rationis  sola,  Incitamenta  ad  Virtutem  satis  efficacia,  non  prsebet. 

Qui  hanc  Thesin  primus  defendere  statuit,  procedat. — Woodhull. 

Qui  primus  opponit  Thesi  procedat, 

Lawrence, 

Leake.. 

Qui  Objectiones  refellere,  et  Thesin  firmare  suscipit,  procedat. 
Recte  notatum  fuit,  quod  Naturam  Peccati  probe  scire  necessarium  est,  ad  Vir- 
tutem rite  sestimandum.  Peccato  enim  ignoto,  odisse  illud  nequimus ;  et  sine  Pec- 
cati odio,  nulla  datur  Virtus.  Et  quoniam  clarum  est,  quod  homines,  Luce  Naturae 
sola  freti,  ignorarunt  quid  sit  virtus,  et  quales  ejus  Consequentise  in  Seculo  futuro ; 
nesciverunt  Deum,  verse  Virtutis  Exemplar,  nee  non  Amorem  et  Satisfactionem 
Domini  Salvatoris,  quse  sola  sunt  Incitamenta  ad  Virtutem  idonea ;  Thesis  Valet. 

The  next  Thesis  is — 
Nullam  veram  Virtutem  habet,  qui  omnes  non  habet. 

In  English — 

He  has  not  one  true  virtue,  who  has  not  every  one. 

Who  undertakes  to  defend  this  position  ? — Tuttle. 

If  any  think  to  oppose  it,  let  him  appear. — Hazard. 

Who  judges  he  can  confute  these  arguments,  let  him  speak. — Clagget. 

Determination. 

That  the  Thesis  is  true,  appears  demonstrable  both  from  the  Simplicity  of  the 
Soul  and  the  Nature  of  Virtue.  As  the  soul  cannot  be  divided  into  any  Parts,  if  one 
vice  is  prevalent  it  possesses  the  soul  entirely,  and  the  whole  principle  of  action 
is  vitiated.  And  as  Virtue  is  a  Disposition  of  Mind  to  whatever  is  morally  good, 
and  Goodness  must  be  uniform  and  of  a  piece,  it  can  no  more  be  dismembered 
than  the  Soul :  therefore  whatever  mixture  of  vice  there  may  be  with  virtue,  one  of 
them  must  necessarily  predominate ;  for  seeing  that  they  are  perfectly  opposite  to 
each  other,  it  is  as  impossible  for  a  Person  to  be  under  the  governing  power  of  both 
at  once,  as  for  Fire  and  Water  to  subsist  together,  without  the  one's  being  extin- 
guished or  the  other  evaporated. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


271 


Virtue  consists  in  the  Love  of  God  and  Man,  nor  can  it  be  separated.  The  Pre- 
tence is  not  tolerable,  that  a  Hater  of  his  Brother  should  be  a  Lover  of  God.  Now 
'tis  certain  that  one  cannot  love  and  hate  the  same  thing  at  the  same  Time,  and  in 
the  same  Respect.  There  must  then  be  such  a  necessary  Connexion  of  all  virtues, 
that  one  cannot  possibly  be  without  all ;  consequently  a  single  virtue,  where  any 
vice  prevails,  is  but  a  counterfeit. 

Exercitia  quae  restant  ad  tertiam  Horam  P.  M.  postponuntur. 

The  remaining  exercises  of  the  Day  begin  at  three  o'clock,  afternoon. 

*********** 

Orator  hujus  Classis  valedictorius  ascendat. 

Exercitia,  quae  a  Candidatis  secundi  Gradus  praestanda  sunt,  jam  sequuntur. 

Thesis  disputanda  haec  est,  scil : 

Jephtha  Filiam  non  immolavit. 

Ascendat  hujus  Quaestionis  Respondens. — Mr.  Ker. 

Ascendat  primus  qui  hanc  Thesim  veram  esse  negat. 

Determinatio. 

Fatendum  est,  quod  in  hac  Quaestione  docti  in  Partes  abeunt.  Sed  ut  Theseos 
Veritas  appareat,  considerandum  est  quod  fuit  Jephthse  Votum.  '  Qui — vel,  quod- 
cunque — exierit  e  foribus  Domus  meae,  in  Occursum  meum,  erit  Domini,  et,  vel, 
offeram  illud  in  Holocaustum,'  q.  d.,  vel  aptum  erit  at  Sacrificium,  vel  non :  si 
prius,  erit  in  Holocaustum ;  si  non,  erit  Domino  sacrum,  devotum.  Hebraeae  Voces 
non  aliter  necessario  significant;  nam  Vau  saepe  disjunctive  sumitur,  ut  multis  ex- 
emplis  patet.  Adde,  quod  Deus  detestatus  est  humanas  Victimas,  et  improbavit ; 
quod  cum  Sacerdotes  saltern  norunt,  non  verisimile  est  Jephtham  eos  in  tanta  causa 
non  consuluisse.  Nee  parvum  habet  momentum,  Filiam  ejus  Spatium  deflendi, 
non  Mortem  sed  Virginitatem,  petiisse;  cum  enim  dicitur  Jephtha  fecisse  quod 
voverat,  sequitur,  et  non  cognoverat  Virum. 

Descendant  Candidati  hujus  Collegii  ambientes. 

Ad  Curatores. 

Juvenes,  quos  coram  vobis,  Curatores  honorandi  ac  reverendi,  jam  sisto,  publico 
Examini,  secundum  hujus  Academiae  Leges  subject!,  habiti  fuerunt  omnino  digni 
qui  Honoribus  academicis  exornarentur :  Vobis  igitur  comprobantibus,  illos  ad 
Gradum  petitum,  toto  Animo  admittam. 

Eadem  Auctoritate  regia,  virum  Davidem  McGregor,  Novangliaj,  de  Religione  et 
Literis  bene  meritum,  ad  secundum  in  Artibus  Gradum,  Honoris  causa,  admitto. 

Eadem  Auctoritate,  Reverendum  Nathan  Ker,  Davidem  Caldwell,  Conciona- 
torem  Evangelii,  necessario  absentem ;  Reverendum  Johannem  Strain,  hujus  Col- 
legii alumnos,  ad  secundum  in  Artibus  Gradum  admitto.     Hoc  Anno  etiam, 
Jacobus  Thompson,  A.M.;  Thomas  Henderson,  A.M.;  Johannes  Leflferty,  A.M. 

Forma  constituendi  A.B. 

Auctoritate,  regio  Diplomate  mihi  collata,  pro  More  Academiarum  in  Anglia,  vos 
ad  primum  in  Artibus  Gradum  admitto;  vobisque  hunc  Librum  trado,  una  cum 
Potestate  in  Artibus  pnelegendi  et  docendi,  quotiescunque  ad  hoc  Munus  evocati 
fueritis ;  cujus,  hoc  Instrumentum,  sigillo  nostri  Collegii  ratum,  Testimonium  sit. 

Forma  constituendi  A.M. 

Auctoritate,  regio  Diplomate  mihi  collata,  pro  More  Academiarum  in  Anglia,  vos 
ad  secundum  in  Artibus  Gradum  admitto ;  vobisque  hunc  Librum  trado,  una  cum 


272        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Potestate  in  Artibus  prselegendi,  publiceque  profitendi  ac  docendi,  quotiescunque 
ad  hoc  Munus  evocati  fueritis  :  cujus  hoc  Instrumentum,  sigillo  nostri  Collegii  ratum, 
Testimonium  sit. 

In  constituendo  A.M.  honorarios,  inseratur  hasc  Clausula,  scil — ad  secundum  in 
Artibus  Gradum,  Honoris  causa,  admitto.  ' 


Orator  Magistralis  valedictorius. 

Rev.  McGregor. 

Rev.  Nathan  Ker. 

Dialogue. 

Prayer." 

The  rules  for  admission  into  the  several  classes  were  very 
much  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  administrations;  as  will 
appear  from  a  comparison  of  the  following  extracts,  from  the 
account  of  the  College  in  1764,  with  the  requisites  for  admis- 
sion in  Mr.  Burr's  time  : 

"  Candidates  for  admission  into  the  lowest  or  Freshman  class  must  be  capable  of 
composing  grammatical  Latin,  translating  Virgil,  Cicero's  Orations,  and  the  four 
Evangelists  in  Greek ;  and  by  a  late  order  [made  in  Mr.  Davies's  administration] 
must  understand  the  principal  rules  of  vulgar  arithmetic." 

"  Candidates  for  any  of  the  higher  classes  are  not  only  previously  examined,  but 
recite  a  fortnight  upon  trial,  in  that  particular  class  for  which  they  offer  themselves ; 
and  are  then  fixed  in  that,  or  a  lower,  as  they  happen  to  be  judged  qualified.  But, 
unless  in  very  singular  and  extraordinary  cases,  none  are  received  after  the  Junior 
year." 

"  Besides  these  examinations  for  admission  into  the  respective  classes,  and  the 
last  examination  of  the  Senior  class,  previous  to  their  obtaining  the  first  collegiate 
honors,  the  three  inferior  classes,  at  the  end  of  every  year,  are  examined  in  such 
of  the  classics,  arts  and  sciences,  as  they  have  studied,  in  order  for  admission  into 
the  next.  And  such  as  are  found  unqualified  are  not  allowed  to  rise  in  the  usual 
course.  These,  in  like  manner  as  the  last  examination  of  the  Senior  class,  are 
attended  upon  by  the  president  and  tutors,  in  conjunction  with  any  other  gentlemen 
of  liberal  education  who  choose  to  be  present.  Dr.  Finley  hath  also  instituted 
quarterly  examinations  of  the  three  classes  before  mentioned.  But  these  are  not  so 
universal  as  the  former,  being  restricted  to  what  they  have  studied  during  the  quarter. 
They  have  been  found  to  answer  excellent  purposes;  for  thereby  the  instructors 
can  easily  observe  the  gradual  progress  each  one  makes,  and  are  thence  enabled 
to  encourage  or  warn  them,  as  their  several  cases  require.  Hence  also  it  may  be 
easily  imagined,  it  hath  not  a  little  conduced  to  the  assiduity  and  carefulness  of  the 
students  in  their  daily  preparations." 

From  the  beginning,  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
College  were  administered  by  the  President  and  the  Tutors; 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


273 


and  with  eminent  success.  During  the  year  in  which  the  above- 
mentioned  account  of  the  College  was  published,  viz.,  1 764,  there 
were  one  hundred  and  twenty  students,  and  there  were  "  very 
few  whose  conduct  rendered  them  obnoxious  even  to  the  milder 
methods  of  punishment."  The  laws  authorized  the  infliction 
of  fines,  but  at  this  period  in  the  history  of  the  College  this 
mode  of  punishment  seems  to  have  been  given  up;  and  ad- 
monition, private  and  before  the  classes,  and  suspension  from 
the  privileges  of  the  College,  became  the  exclusive  punishments 
for  violations  of  the  established  rules  of  the  institution.  Ex- 
pulsion, then  as  now,  could  be  inflicted  only  with  the  consent 
of  the  Trustees. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  "  account  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey"  it  is  spoken  of  as  "  a  College  originally  designed  for 
the  promotion  of  the  general  interests  of  Christianity,"  as  well 
as  the  "cultivation  of  human  science."  And  the  writer  of  the 
account  adds,  "  To  the  singular  favor  of  Heaven  on  the  means 
of  instruction  here  used,  it  must  be  gratefully  ascribed  that 
many  youth  who  have  come  to  Nassau  Hall  for  education,  with- 
out any  just  sense  of  the  obligations  either  of  natural  or  re- 
vealed religion,  have  been  here  effectually  reformed,  become 
men  of  solid  and  rational  piety,  and  now  appear  upon  the  stage 
of  public  action  employing  their  talents  to  the  honor  of  the 
Supreme  Bestower  and  in  promoting  the  good  of  mankind." 

In  the  year  1762  there  was  an  unusual  attention  on  the  part 
of  the  students  to  the  subject  of  religion,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  College  year,  viz.,  in  September,  one-half  of  the  students 
were  deemed  to  be  hopefully  pious. 

An  interesting  account  of  this  work  of  grace,  written  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull,  is  given  in  Dr.  Green's  Historical 
Sketch  of  the  College. 

During  Dr.  Finley's  administration  the  following-named  gentlemen  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Faculty,  viz. : 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  President  from  1761  to  1766. 

Jeremiah  Halsey,  A.M.,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Lamington,  New  Jersey,  Tutor 
from  1757  to  1767. 

Jacob  Ker,  A.M.,  pastor  of  the  churches  at  Monokin  and  Wicomico,  1764  to 
1795,  Tutor  from  1760  to  1762. 

Samuel  Blair,  A.M.,  pastor  of  Old  South  Church,  at  Boston,  Tutor  from  1761  to 
1764. 


274        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

James  Thompson,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1762  to  1770. 
Joseph  Periam,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1765  to  1766. 

The  following  were  elected  Trustees  during  this  period  : 

1761.  Rev.  Israel  Reed,  A.M.,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Bound- 
brook,  New  Jersey,  of  the  class  of  1748. 

1761.  David  Bostwick,  A.M.,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  New  York. 

1761.  Dr.  John  Redman,  Physician,  of  Philadelphia. 

1761.  Dr.  Robert  Harris,  Physician,  of  New  Brunswick,  and  afterwards  of 
Philadelphia. 

1763.  Rev.  Charles  Beatty,  A.M.,  successor  of  the  Rev.  William  Tennent  as 
pastor  of  the  church  of  Neshaminy. 

1763.  Hon.  John  Berrian,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey. 

1764.  Robert  Ogden,  Esq.,  of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey. 

1764.  Rev.  Lambert  De  Ronde,  of  New  York  City. 

1765.  Rev.  John  Rodgers,  D.D.,  of  St.  George's,  Delaware,  and  afterwards  of 
New  York. 

1765.  Dr.  William  Shippen,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Philadelphia. 


Of  one  hundred  and  thirty  graduates  of  the  College  who  were  students  during  the 
presidency  of  Dr.  Finley,  fifty-nine  became  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

The  following  named  were  among  the  graduates  of  the  greatest  note,  viz. :  of  the 
class  of — 

1761.  Rev.  David  Caldwell,  D.D.,  President  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  . 

1761.  Hon.  Thomas  Henderson,  A.M.,  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  also  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives. 

1761.  Rev.  Nathan  Ker,  A.M.,  Goshen,  New  York. 

1761.  Rev.  David  Rice,  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky. 

1762.  Hon.  Ebenezer  Hazard,  A.M.,  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States. 
1762.  Rev.  James  Manning,  D.D.,  the  first  President  of  Rhode  Island  College, 

now  Brown  University,  and  in  1786  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

1762.  Rev.  Joseph  Periam,  a  Tutor  of  the  College,  distinguished  for  his  attain- 
ments in  mathematics,  metaphysics,  etc. 

1762.  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant,  a  grandson  of  President  Dickinson,  and  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

1762.  Rev.   Hezekiah  Smith,   S.T.D.,   of  Massachusetts,  an   eminent   Baptist 
preacher. 

1763.  Rev.  James  Boyd,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 
1763.  Rev.  Robert  Cooper,  D.D.,  of  Pennsylvania. 

1763.  David  Cowell,  A.M.,  M.D.,  of  New  Jersey,  for  two  years  the  Senior 
Physician  and  Surgeon  of  the  United  States  Military  Hospitals. 

1763.  Rev.  John  Craighead,  A.M.,  of  Pennsylvania.  He  raised  a  company 
from  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  joined  the  army  in  New  Jersey  under  Wash- 
ington. 

1763.  Rev.  Samuel  Eakin,  A.M.,  of  West  Jersey. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  FINLEY. 


275 


1 763.  Rev.  John  Lathrop,  D.D.,  of  Massachusetts,  a  Fellow  of  Harvard  College. 

1763.  Hon.  William  Patterson,  LL.D.,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress; also  of  the  Convention  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  United  States,  Attor- 
ney-General and  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court. 

1763.  Hon.  Tapping  Reeve,  LL.D.,  founder  of  the  Litchfield  Law  School,  and 
Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut. 

1763.  Rev.  John  Simpson,  A.M.,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  but  a  resident  of 
North  Carolina. 

1763.  Rev.  William  M.  Tennent,  D.D.,  of  Abington,  Pennsylvania,  a  Trustee 
of  the  College. 

1763.  Right   Rev.   Thomas   John   Clagget,  D.D.,   Bishop  of  the   Diocese  of 
Maryland. 

1764.  Rev.  \Vm.  Foster,  A.M.,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  teacher  of  theology. 
1764.  Rev.  Joseph  Smith,  A.M.,  of  Western  Pennsylvania. 

1764.  Hon.  Thomas  Tread  well,  a  membe'r  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representa- 
tives. 

1765.  Rev.  John  Bacon,  A.M.,  a  member  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  President  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts. 

1765.  Rev.  Joel  Benedict,  D.D.,  of  Connecticut,  a  Biblical,  classical,  and  mathe- 
matical scholar. 

1765.  Colonel  Wm.  Davies,  A.M.,  of  Virginia,  eldest  son  of  President  Davies. 
Colonel  Davies  was  an  officer  held  in  high  esteem  by  Washington. 

1765.  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  D.D.,  President  of  Union  College,  New  York. 

1765.  Robert  Halsted,  A.M.,  of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  a  prominent 
physician. 

1765.  Hon.  Richard  Hutson,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  Chan- 
cellor of  South  Carolina. 

1765.  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  A.M.,  a  missionary  to  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Indians. 
He  contributed  very  much  to  the  founding  of  Hamilton  Academy,  now  Hamilton 
College. 

1765.  Robert  Ogden,  A.M.,  Esq.,  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  a  counsellor-at-law. 

1765.  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  LL.D  ,  an  eminent  classical  teacher. 

1765.  David  Ramsay,  M.D./  of  South  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  author  of  "  The  American  Revolution,"  and  other  works. 

1765.  Rev.  Theodore  Dirck  Romeyn,  D.D.,  of  New  Jersey,  Professor  of  Theology 
in  the  Dutch  Reformed  College. 

1765.  Hon.  Jacob  Rush,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania. 

1766.  Rev.  Jacob  Van  Artsdalen,  A.M.,  of  New  Jersey,  a  Trustee  of  the  Col- 
lege. 

1766.  Hon.  Waightstill  Avery,  A.M.,  Attorney-General  of  North  Carolina. 

1766.  Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch,  D.D.,  President  of  Greenville  College,  Tennessee. 

1766.  Hon.  Oliver  Ellsworth,  LL.D.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  and 
a  member  of  the  Convention  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  United  States. 

1766.  David  Howell,  LL.D.,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  in  Brown  University. 

1766.  Rev.  David  McCalla,  D.D.,of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina. 


276        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

1766.  John  McPherson,  A.M.,  Aid-de-Camp  of  General  Montgomery  at  the 
attack  on  Quebec. 

1766.  Hon.  Luther  Martin,  LL.D.,  Attorney-General  of  Maryland,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Convention  to  form  the  United  States  Constitution. 

1766.  Nathaniel  Niles,  A.M.,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Vermont,  and  a 
member  of  Congress  from  that  State. 

1766.  Rev.  James  Power,  D.D.,  one  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania. 

1766.  Rev.  Isaac  Skillman,  D.D.,  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church,  first  in  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  and  then  in  Salem,  New  Jersey. 

1766.  Micah  Townsend,  A.M.,  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Vermont. 

1766.  Rev.  John  Woodhull,  D.D.,  an  eminent  minister  and  teacher  of  theology, 
and  for  forty-four  years  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MEMOIR  OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   FINLEY,   D.D.,   FIFTH   PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF   NEW  JERSEY. 

DR.  FINLEY  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  At  the  time  of  his  birth, 
1715,  his  parents  resided  in  the  county  of  Armagh.  In  1734 
they  came  to  America,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  the  28th 
of  September.  The  family  settled  in  West  Jersey.  Before 
leaving  Ireland  he  began  to  prepare  for  the  gospel  ministry ; 
and  with  this  end  in  view  he  made  considerable  progress  in 
classical  learning,  in  which  he  afterwards  became  a  proficient. 
After  his  arrival  in  this  country  he  devoted  several  years  to 
study,  giving  special  attention  to  theology.  It  is  thought,  and 
it  has  even  been  affirmed,  that  he  completed  his  studies  at  the 
Log  College.  But  of  this  there  is  no  certain  evidence.  It  is 
rather  a  matter  of  conjecture,  founded  upon  the  well-known 
facts  that  his  religious  views  were  fully  in  accord  with  the 
teachings  of  that  school;  that  he  labored  assiduously  and  boldly 
in  support  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  Tennents  and  their 
friends  for  the  promotion  of  religion ;  and  that  at  this  time  the 
Log  College  was  the  only  preparatory  school  for  the  ministry 
within  the  bounds  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Church.  But 
these  facts  do  not  determine  this  question,  as  he  may  have  pur- 
sued his  studies  privately  under  some  approved  divine. 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick  on  the  5th  day  of  August,  1740,  and  was  or- 
dained by  the  same  Presbytery  on  the  I3th  of  October,  1742. 
His  preaching  was  attended  with  great  success,  especially  in 
Pennsylvania  and  in  the  lower  counties  of  New  Jersey.  In  1743, 
calls  for  his  ministerial  services  were  made  by  the  churches  of 
Cohansey  and  Deerfield,  New  Jersey,  and  from  Milford,  Con- 
necticut. The  Presbytery  sent  him  to  Milford  "with  allowance 

277 


278        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

he  should  preach  for  other  places  thereabouts  when  Providence 
may  open  a  door  for  him."  Being  at  Milford,  he  went  by  re- 
quest to  preach  for  the  Second  Society  in  New  Haven.  As 
this  Society  or  Church  had  not  been  recognized  either  by  the 
civil  authority  or  by  the  New  Haven  Association,  it  was  con- 
trary to  a  recently  enacted  law  of  the  Province  for  any  one  to 
preach  for  said  Society,  although  it  had  been  organized  in 
conformity  with  the  usages  of  the  Congregational  churches. 
Whether  Mr.  Finley  had  any  knowledge  of  this  prohibitory 
enactment  is  not  known.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  on 
his  way  to  the  place  of  meeting  he  was  arrested  and  confined. 
This  occurred  on  the  5th  of  September,  1743,  and  on  the  nth 
of  the  same  month  he  was  presented  by  the  grand  jury,  and 
was  sentenced  to  be  transported  out  of  the  Colony  as  a  vagrant, 
and  under  this  sentence  he  was  removed  from  the  Province.  In 
the  following  month  he  petitioned  the  Colonial  Assembly  to 
review  the  case,  but  his  petition  was  refused.  This  of  course 
prevented  his  going  again  to  Milford. 

For  six  months  he  preached  as  a  stated  supply  for  a  new 
congregation  in  Philadelphia,  of  which  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent  became  the  first  pastor. 

In  June,  1744,  Mr.  Finley  accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at 
Nottingham,  Maryland,  at  which  place  he  continued  in  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties  for  seventeen  years. 
Here  he  established  an  academy,  which  acquired  a  great  repu- 
tation, and  one  well  deserved.  Among  his  pupils  at  Notting- 
ham were  Governor  Martin,  of  North  Carolina,  Governor  Henry, 
of  Maryland,  Dr. -Benjamin  Rush,  his  brother,  Judge  Jacob 
Rush,  Ebenezer  Hazard,  Esq.,  Colonel  John  Bayard,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  M.  Tennent,  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
McWhorter,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  James 
Waddell,  of  Virginia. 

He  was,  says  Dr.  Sprague,  an  accomplished  teacher,  and 
among  his  pupils  were  some  of  the  very  best  scholars  of  the 
day.  He  boarded  most  of  them  in  his  own  house  and  at  his 
table.  He  often  indulged  in  a  vein  of  pleasantry  with  them. 

In  the  summer  of  1745,  Mr.  Finley,  in  company  with  the 
Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  and  by  appointment  of  the  conjunct 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL   FINLEY. 


279 


Presbyteries  of  New  Brunswick  and  of  New  Castle,  waited  upon 
Governor  Gooch,  of  Virginia,  with  the  view  to  repel  certain 
insinuations  and  charges  made  against  the  Rev.  John  Roan,  a 
member  of  the  New  Castle  Presbytery,  who  by  order  of  his  Pres- 
bytery had  spent  some  months  in  Virginia  in  missionary  labors. 
Mr.  Rowan's  zeal  and  success,  and  perhaps  some  unguarded 
expressions,  stirred  up  the  wrath  of  his  opponents,  who  hesi- 
tated not  to  charge  him  and  the  New  Lights  generally  "  with 
reflecting  upon  and  vilifying  the  Established  Religion,"  and 
who  were  so  far  successful  that  they  enlisted  in  their  move- 
ment against  Mr.  Roan  the  influence  of  that  eminently  candid 
and  liberal-minded  Governor.  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Finley 
were  kindly  received  by  Governor  Gooch,  who  gave  them  per- 
mission to  preach  in  Hanover.  They  continued  there  a  week, 
and  "  much  good  was  done  by  their  ministry.  The  people  of 
God  were  refreshed,  and  several  careless  sinners  were  awakened." 
(See  report  of  their  visit  by  Mr.  Samuel  Morris,  in  Foote's 
"  Sketches  of  Virginia.") 

Upon  the  death  of  President  Davies,  Dr.  Finley  was  unan- 
imously chosen  his  successor.  Davies's  own  opinion  of  Fin- 
ley's  qualifications  for  the  office  is  apparent  from  the  following 
extracts.  Writing  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cowell,  of  Trenton,  a  Trus- 
tee of  the  College,  in  reference  to  the  choice  of  a  President,  he 
says: 

"  I  recommend  Mr.  Finley,  from  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  him,  as 
the  best  qualified  person,  in  the  compass  of  my  knowledge,  in  America, — incom- 
parably better  qualified  than  myself.  Though  the  want  of  some  superficial  accom- 
plishments for  empty  popularity  may  keep  him  in  obscurity  for  some  little  time,  his 
hidden  worth,  in  a  few  months,  or  years  at  most,  will  blaze  out  to  the  satisfaction 
and  even  astonishment  of  all  candid  men.  A  disappointment  of  this  kind  will 
certainly  be  of  service  to  the  College." 

The  letter  from  which  this  extract  is  made  was  written  after 
Mr.  Davies  had  declined  the  appointment  of  President,  and 
also  after  he  had  refused  to  act  as  Vice-President  for  six 
months. 

On  another  occasion  Davies  speaks  of  Finley  as  "  the  best  of 
men,  and  my  favorite  friend." 

The  College  flourished  greatly  under  his  administration  of  its 


28o        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

affairs,  and  he  himself  enjoyed  in  a  very  high  degree  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  the  Trustees,  as  is  evident  from  their  resolu- 
tions and  minutes,  and  still  more  from  the  liberal  provision  they 
made  for  his  support  when  his  protracted  illness,  which  ended 
in  death,  rendered  necessary  an  increased  expenditure  of  funds. 
His  reputation  was  not  limited  to  the  Colonies.  He  was  well 
known  to  not  a  few  of  the  prominent  Presbyterian  and  Dissent- 
ing ministers  in  Great  Britain,  with  some  of  whom  he  kept  up 
a  friendly  correspondence.  Such  was  the  opinion  which  they 
entertained  of  him  as  a  scholar  and  a  divine  that,  without  his 
knowledge,  they  procured  for  him  from  the  University  of  Glas- 
gow the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity.  This  is  said  to  have  been 
the  second  time  that  this  degree  was  ever  conferred  upon  an 
American  divine  by  a  British  university,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis 
Allison,  of  Philadelphia,  being  the  first  to  receive  this  honor. 

The  diligence  and  earnestness  with  which  Dr.  Finley  devoted 
himself  to  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties,  after  a  few  years 
sensibly  and  most  seriously  affected  his  health.  As  mentioned 
in  the  sketch  of  his  administration,  he  went  to  Philadelphia  for 
medical  advice  and  attendance,  and  he  died  in  that  city  on  the 
l/th  of  July,  1766,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age. 

"  When  he  first  applied  to  the  physicians  in  Philadelphia,"  observes  Dr.  Green, 
"  he  had  no  apprehension  that  his  dissolution  was  so  near  as  it  afterwards  ap- 
peared, for  he  observed  to  his  friends,  '  If  my  work  is  done,  I  am  ready.  I  do 
not  desire  to  live  a  day  longer  than  I  can  work  for  God.  But  I  cannot  think  this 
is  the  case  as  yet.  God  has  much  more  for  me  to  do  before  I  depart  hence.' 

"  About  a  month  before  his  death  his  physicians  informed  him  that  his  disease 
appeared  incurable.  Upon  which  he  expressed  his  perfect  resignation  to  the 
Divine  will,  and  from  that  time  till  his  death  he  was  employed  in  setting  his  house 
in  order.  Upon  being  told  by  one  of  his  physicians  that  according  to  present  ap- 
pearances he  could  live  but  a  few  days  longer,  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  exclaimed, 
'  Then  welcome  Lord  Jesus.'  " 

All  his  remarks  and  all  his  conversations  with  his  friends  in- 
dicated a  tranquil  and  even  a  joyous  state  of  mind  in  view  of 
his  departure.  He  had  no  doubt  as  to  his  personal  interest  in 
Christ,  and  he  felt  assured  that,  for  him,  to  die  would  be  gain. 
Upon  seeing  a  member  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Philadelphia  he  said,  "  I  have  often  preached  and  prayed  among 
you,  my  dear  sir,  and  the  doctrines  I  preached  to  you  are  now 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  SAMUEL   F1NLEY.  28l 

my  support,  and,  blessed  be  God,  they  are  without  a  flaw.  May 
the  Lord  bless  and  preserve  your  church  !  He  designs  good  for 
it  yet,  I  trust."  To  a  person  from  Princeton  he  said,  "  Give  my 
love  to  the  people  at  Princeton,  and  tell  them  I  am  going  to 
die,  and  that  I  am  not  afraid  to  die." 

On  the  day  before  his  death,  "  with  a  pleasing  smile  and  with 
a  strong  voice,  he  cried  out, '  Oh,  I  shall  triumph  over  every  foe  ! 
The  Lord  hath  given  me  the  victory!  I  exult!  I  triumph!'" 
And  he  did  triumph  over  death,  and,  committing  his  spirit  to 
his  Lord,  he  fell  asleep,  in  the  assured  hope  of  a  happy  resur- 
rection. 

Dr.  Finley's  remains  were  interred  in  Philadelphia  by  the  side 
of  his  friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gilbert  Tennent,  the  heat  of  the  weather 
not  permitting  their  removal  to  Princeton.  His  funeral  sermon 
was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Treat,  D.D.,  of  Abing- 
ton,  Pennsylvania,  a  Trustee  of  the  College.  A  large  number 
of  the  College  students  attended  the  funeral,  and  he  was  car- 
ried to  his  burial  by  eight  members  of  the  Senior  class.  The 
Trustees  caused  a  cenotaph  to  be  erected  to  his  memory  in  the 
graveyard  at  Princeton,  in  a  line  with  and  nigh  to  the  tombs  of 
his  predecessors  in  the  office  of  President. 

Ebenezer  Hazard,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  formerly  Postmaster- 
General  of  the  United  States,  and,  as  before  mentioned,  a  pupil 
of  Dr.  Finley's  at  the  Nottingham  Academy,  gives  this  testi- 
mony to  his  honored  preceptor : 

"  He  was  remarkable  for  sweetness  of  temper  and  politeness  of  behavior.  He 
was  given  to  hospitality,  charitable  without  ostentation,  exemplary  in  the  discharge 
of  all  relative  duties,  and  in  all  things  showing  himself  a  pattern  of  all  good  works.. 
As  a  divine  he  was  a  Calvinist  in  sentiment.  His  sermons  were  not  hasty  produc- 
tions, but  filled  with  good  sense  and  well-digested  sentiment,  expressed  in  lan- 
guage pleasing  to  men  of  science,  yet  perfectly  intelligible  by  the  illiterate.  They 
were  calculated  to  inform  the  ignorant,  to  alarm  the  careless  and  secure,  and  to. 
edify  and  comfort  the  faithful." 

Another  pupil,  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull,  of  Mon- 
mouth,  New  Jersey,  thus  speaks  of  him  in  a  communication 
written  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Green : 

"  Dr.  Finley  was  a  man  of  small  stature,  and  of  a  round  and  ruddy  countenance. 
In  the  pulpit  he  was  always  solemn  and  sensible,  and  sometimes  glowing  with 
fervor.     His  learning  was  very  extensive.     Every  branch  of  study  taught  in  the 
VOL.  I. — 19 


282        Hf STORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

College  appeared  to  be  familiar  to  him.  Among  other  things  he  taught  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew  in  the  Senior  year.  He  was  highly  respected  and  greatly 
beloved  by  the  students,  and  had  very  little  difficulty  in  governing  the  College. 
He  died  in  Philadelphia,  of  a  complaint  in  the  liver,  and  requested  to  be  carried 
to  the  grave  by  some  of  the  Senior  class.  This  was  done  accordingly,  and  I  was 
one  of  those  who  were  bearers  of  his  corpse." 

In  early  life  President  Finley  manifested  a  fondness  for  public 
disputation,  and  sometimes  an  undue  warmth  and  earnestness  in 
maintaining  his  views.  But  mature  age  and  Christian  experi- 
ence corrected  this  tendency  to  harsh  judgment  and  expression; 
and  he  became  an  acknowledged  model  of  courteous  deport- 
ment and  sweetness  of  temper,  a  man  greatly  beloved. 

Soon  after  he  was  licensed  he  went  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Donegal  Presbytery,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  gave  his  countenance 
to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Craighead  in  his  disorderly  opposition  to 
the  Presbytery,  by  taking  part  in  reading  to  the  people  Mr.  C.'s 
defence  of  himself.  January  20,  1741,  he  preached,  at  Notting- 
ham, Maryland,  a  sermon  on  Matthew  xii.  27,  28:  "If  I  by 
Beelzebub  cast  out  devils,  by  whom  do  your  sons  cast  them 
-out  ?"  This  sermon  was  published  under  the  title  of  "  Christ 
Triumphing  and  Satan  Raging,"  and  was  reprinted  both  at  Bos- 
ton and  at  London.  He  also  wrote  a  letter  in  commendation 
of  Mr.  Whitefield,  which  was  published. 

Dr.  Finley's  other  publications  were : 

"A  Refutation  of  Mr.  Thomson's  Sermon  on  the  Doctrine  of  Conviction,"  1743. 
A  sermon  on  2  Thessalonians  ii.  II,  12,  against  the  Moravians,  being  the  substance 
•of  several  sermons  preached  in  Philadelphia,  showing  the  Strength,  Nature,  and 
.Symptoms  of  Delusion,  1743.  "A  Charitable  Plea  for  the  Speechless,"  1747, 
and  a  Vindication  of  it,  in  1748.  A  sermon  preached  at  the  ordination  of  the 
Rev.  John  Rodgers,  at  St.  George's,  Delaware,  1749.  A  sermon  on  the  death  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  1751.  A  sermon  from  2  Cor.  x.  4,  preached  at  Newark, 
New  Jersey,  before  the  Synod  of  New  York,  1754.  A  sermon  entitled  "The 
Curse  of  Meroz,  or  the  Danger  of  Neutrality  in  the  Cause  of  God  and  our  Country," 
1757.  A  sermon  on  the  death  of  President  Davies,  1761.  A  sermon  preached  at 
the  funeral  of  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  D.D.,  1764. 

A  few  years  before  the  publication  of  his  "  Charitable  Plea 
for  the  Speechless,"  and  not  long  after  his  licensure  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  Dr.  Finley  engaged  in  a  public 
debate  on  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism  with  the  Rev.  Abel 
Morgan,  Jr.,  of  Middletown,  New  Jersey,  a  Baptist  preacher 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  SAMUEL    FINLEY. 


283 


of  much  note  in  those  days.  The  debate  was  begun  at  Cohan- 
sey,  in  West  Jersey,  and  resumed  at  Cape  May,  at  which  latter 
place  there  was  at  this  time  "a  powerful  revival  of  religion,  in 
which,"  says  Dr.  Sprague,  "  the  labors  of  Baptist  and  Presby- 
terian ministers  were  to  a  great  extent  intermingled."  At  this 
time,  as  we  learn  from  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster,  two  elders  and 
six  members  left  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  Baptist.  To 
the  Charitable  Plea  Mr.  Morgan  replied  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  Anti-Pedo-Rantism,  or  Mr.  Samuel  Finley's  Charitable  Plea 
for  the  Speechless  examined  and  refuted,  the  Baptism  of 
Believers  maintained,  and  the  Mode  of  it  by  Immersion  vindi- 
cated." To  this  Dr.  Finley  published  a  rejoinder  in  vindica- 
tion of  his  plea,  to  which  Mr.  Morgan  published  a  reply,  and 
this  ended  their  discussion.  (See  Sprague's  "  Annals  of  the 
American  Pulpit,"  vol.  vi.  page  34,  art.  Abel  Morgan,  Jr.) 

Dr.  Finley  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss 
Sarah  Hall,  whose  mother  was  the  second  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Gilbert  Tennent.  She  is  spoken  of  by  President  Green  as  a 
lady  of  amiable  character,  who  was  truly  a  helpmeet  to  her  hus- 
band, and  by  Dr.  Sprague  as  a  lady  of  rare  excellence.  By  her 
Dr.  Finley  had  eight  children.  She  died  in  1760,  previously  to 
his  leaving  Nottingham.  The  year  following  he  married  Miss 
Ann  Clarkson,  whose  father,  Matthew  Clarkson,  had  been  an 
eminent  merchant  in  New  York,  and  who  was  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  David  Clarkson,  B.D.,one  of  the  two  thousand  ministers 
ejected  for  non-conformity  in  England  in  1662.  Miss  Clarkson 
was  also  a  lady  distinguished  for  her  piety. 

Dr.  Finley's  son  Ebenezer  Finley  was  graduated  at  Nassau 
Hall  in  1772,  and  resided  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  By 
some  persons  he  has  been  confounded  with  his  brother  James 
E.  B.  Finley,  a  physician  of  Charleston.  William  Perroneau 
Finley,  LL.D.,  a  grandson  of  President  Finley,  was  also  gradu- 
ated at  this  College,  in  1820,  with  great  distinction.  He  studied 
law,  and  he  is  now  (1873)  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. For  several  years  he  was  President  of  Charleston  College. 
Professor  Morse,  so  well  known  for  his  connection  with  the 
electro-magnetic  telegraph,  is  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Finley's  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Breese,  wife  of  Samuel  Breese,  Esq.,  of  New  Jersey. 


284        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

The  cenotaph  erected  to  the  memory  of  President  Finley  by 
the  Trustees  of  the  College  has  the  following  inscription : 

Memorise  Sacrum 

Reverend!  Samuelis  Finley,  S.T.D. 
Collegii  Neo-Csesariensis 

Presidis, 

Armachae  in  Hibernia  natus,  A.D.  MDCCXV. 

In  American!  migravit,  Anno  MDCCXXXIV. 

Sacris  ordinibus  initiatus  est,  Anno  MDCCXLIII, 

apud  Novum  Brunsvicum, 

Neo-Csesariensium: 

Ecclesise  Nottinghami,  Pensylvaniensium, 

Munus  pastorale  suscepit,  XIV.  o  Kal.  Julii,  MDCCXLIV; 

Ibique,  Academise  celeberrimse 

diu  prsefuit. 

Designatus  Prseses  Collegii  Neo-Csesariensis, 

Officium  inivit,  Id.  Julii  MDCCLXI. 

Tandem,  dilectus,  veneratus, 

Omnibus  flendus 

Morti  occubuit,  Philadelphise, 

XV.  o  Kal.  Sextilis,  A.D.  MDCCLXVI. 

Artibus  literisque  excultus.' 

Prse  cseteris  prsecipue  enituit. 

Rerum  divinarum  scientia. 
Studio  divinse  glorise  flagrans 

summis  opibus 
Ad  veram  Religionem  promovendam, 

et  in  concionibus, 

et  in  sermone  familiari 

Operam  semper  navabat 

Patientia,  modestia,  mansuetudo 

Miranda 

animo  moribusque  enituerunt, 

Ob  charitatem,  observantiam,  vigilantiam, 

erga  juvenes  fidei  suse  mandatos 

fuit 

insignissimus 

Moribus  ingenuis,  pietate  sincera, 

Vixit  omnibus  dilectus, 

Moriens  triumphavit. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  INTERVAL  BETWEEN  THE  DEATH  OF  DR.  FINLEY  AND  THE 
ACCESSION  OF  DR.  WITHERSPOON,  FROM  JULY  18,  1766,  TO 
AUGUST  17,  1768. 

DURING  Dr.  Finley's  last  illness,  his  death  being  apprehended, 
the  Trustees,  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  25th  of  June,  made 
provision  for  the  government  of  the  College  by  appointing 
the  Rev.  William  Tennent  "  to  act  in  the  room  and  stead  of 
President  Finley,"  and  by  investing  him  "with  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  President." 

The  Board  had  their  next  meeting  on  Wednesday,  the  2$th 
of  September,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commencement,  and  ad- 
mitted the  members  of  the  Senior  class,  thirty-one  in  number,  to 
their  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer  presiding 
and  conferring  the  degrees.  The  usual  exercises  on  such  occa- 
sions were  attended  to,  and  also  the  ordinary  routine  of  busi- 
ness, but  the  Trustees  thought  it  best  to  defer  the  election  of 
a  President,  for  which  they  appointed  a  special  meeting  to  be 
held  on  Wednesday,  the  igih  of  the  ensuing  November.  Mr. 
Jonathan  Edwards,  son  of  the  late  President  Edwards,  was 
chosen  a  Tutor  of  the  College. 

In  reference  to  the  salary  of  the  President,  they  adopted  the 
following  minute: 

"  Whereas  sundry  weighty  and  important  reasons  have  induced  this  Board  to 
augment  the  late  worthy  president's  salary  from  time  to  time  to  the  sum  of  ^400, 
but  inasmuch  as  the  occasion  of  the  late  necessary  augmentation  is  removed,  and 
the  present  low  state  of  the  College  funds  will  not  allow  this  Board  to  continue 
that  salary  for  the  future  in  its  present  circumstances,  it  is  agreed,  therefore,  that 
the  stated  salary  of  the  next  president  shall  be  ^250,  with  the  usual  perquisites." 

Having  met  on  the  day  appointed,  they  elected  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Witherspoon,  of  which  the  following  is  the  record : 

285 


286        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  It  having  pleased  a  holy  and  wise  God  to  remove  by  death  the  late  Reverend 
and  worthy  Dr.  Samuel  Finley  from  the  Presidentship  of  the  College,  the  Board 
proceeded  to  the  choice  of  another  to  succeed  him  in  that  office ;  when,  after 
mature  deliberation,  the  Reverend  Dr.  Witherspoon,  of  Paisley,  Scotland,  was 
duly  elected  as  the  Charter  directs,  nemine  contradicente ;  and  it  is  ordered,  that  a 
copy  of  this  minute  be  enclosed  and  transmitted  to  the  said  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in 
a  letter,  signed  by  the  President,  from  this  Board,  praying  his  acceptance  of  the 
said  office.  And  it  is  further  ordered,  that  a  letter,  in  like  manner,  be  transmitted 
to  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  one  of  the  members  of  this  Board,  now  in  London, 
enclosing  the  above  to  his  care;  and  requesting  his  personal  application  to  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  to  solicit  his  acceptance,  and  informing  him  that  this  Board  will  de- 
fray his,  the  said  Mr.  Stockton's,  expenses  in  his  journey  to  Scotland  for  the  said 
purpose ;  and  also  that  another  letter,  to  be  signed  in  like  manner,  be  transmitted 
to  Mr.  Dennys  De  Berdt,  Merchant  in  London,  enclosing  a  duplicate  of  the  letter 
to  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  case  the  said  Mr.  Stockton  should  not  happen  to  be  in 
London,  requesting  the  said  Mr.  De  Berdt  to  forward  the  same ;  and  that  he  would 
be  pleased  to  use  his  influence  and  interest  for  the  same  purpose. 

"  Ordered,  That  Messrs.  Spencer,  Redman,  and  Shippen  do  prepare  draughts 
of  said  letters,  to  be  laid  before  this  Board  to-morrow  morning. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  case  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  acceptance  of  the  Presidentship 
of  this  College,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  guineas  be  allowed  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  his  removal  and  voyage ;  and  that  his  salary  do  commence  on  the  day  of  his 
arrival  in  North  America." 

On  the  following  day  the  committee  charged  with  this  duty 
submitted  drafts  of  letters  to  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Richard  Stock- 
ton, Esq.,  and  Mr.  De  Berdt,  which  were  read  and  approved. 

It  was  then  ordered,  that  these  letters  be  transcribed  and 
signed  by  the  President  of  the  Board  (for  the  time  being),  Mr. 
William  Peartree  Smith ;  who  was  requested  to  despatch  the 
same  by  the  first  vessel  bound  from  New  York  to  London. 
All  which  was  done,  as  appears  from  a  report  made  by  Mr. 
Smith  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  elected  a  Tutor  at  the  last  meeting 
of  the  Board,  appeared,  and  was  qualified  in  accordance  with 
the  charter. 

The  Rev.  William  Tennent,  who  (both  before  and  after  the 
decease  of  President  Finley)  had  discharged  the  duties  of 
President  of  the  College  pro  tempore,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Board,  was  again  requested  to  take  upon  himself  the 
charge  and  burden  of  this  office  until  the  services  of  a  perma- 
nent President  were  secured ;  and  he  having  complied  with  this 
request  was  qualified  as  directed  by  the  charter. 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.    28/ 

At  this  meeting  there  was  begun  a  most  important  negotia- 
tion in  reference  to  the  establishment  of  sundry  professorships 
in  the  College,  and  the  selection  of  the  incumbents  from  the 
two  parties  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  which,  before  the  re- 
union of  the  Synods  of  New  York  and  of  Philadelphia,  had 
been  known  under  the  designations  of  Old  Side  and  New  Side. 

The  first  minute  relative  to  this  business  is  in  these  words: 

"  Messrs.  George  Bryan,  John  Johnson,  William  Allison,  James  Meas,  and 
Samuel  Purviance,  from  Philadelphia,  waited  upon  the  Board,  and  presented  a 
petition  signed  by  some  gentlemen  of  Lewistown,  in  Pennsylvania;  and  also  a 
letter  signed  by  twenty-six  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  requesting  and  recommend- 
ing, among  other  things,  the  establishment  of  several  Professorships  in  the  College. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  said  papers  do  lie  on  the  table  for  further  mature  considera- 
tion." 

The  following  remarks  on  this  overture  are  copied  from  the 
Notes  of  President  Green,  and  they  give  within  a  comparatively 
narrow  compass  a  clear  view  of  the  ends  sought  to  be  attained 
by  the  respective  parties.  On  one  point,  however,  the  writer 
dissents  from  his  venerated  preceptor,  viz.,  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  College,  which  was  originally  established,  not  by  the  Synod 
of  New  York,  or  under  its  auspices,  but  by  the  leading  ministers 
of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York : 

"  In  order  to  understand  fully  the  nature  of  a  negotiation  of  which  this  minute 
gives  the  first  intimation,  but  which  will  afterwards  be  found  to  have  occupied  the 
most  serious  attention  of  the  Board,  it  will  be  necessary  to  recollect  what  has  been 
said  in  regard  to  the  rival  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia ;  and  that  the 
College  was  the  offspring  and  favorite  child  of  the  former  of  these  bodies.  It  has 
been  cursorily  mentiQned  that  the  schism  was  healed  in  the  year  1757,  and  that 
the  two  Synods  were  again  united.  This,  notwithstanding  much  of  the  spirit 
which  had  produced  the  separation  still  remained,  and  indeed  was  not  extinct  till 
many  years  after  this  period.  The  cause  and  peculiarities  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia had  been  denominated  (he  old  side,  and  those  of  the  New  York  Synod  the 
new  side ;  and  these  shibboleths  of  party  remained  long  after  the  formal  union  of 
the  Synods.  It  is  hoped  that  none  of  the  acrimony  with  which  they  were  once 
used  any  longer  exists ;  but  they  still  serve  as  convenient  designations  of  parties 
which  once  divided  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  The  College  of  New  Jersey,  notwithstanding  the  adverse  circumstances  which  it 
experienced  in  the  death  of  four  Presidents  in  less  than  nine  years,  had,  on  the  whole, 
been  advancing  in  reputation  ever  since  its  establishment ;  and  under  Dr.  Finley  had 
probably  risen  higher  than  at  any  preceding  period.  At  his  death  it  was  unques- 
tionably the  most  reputable  institution  of  which  the  Presbyterians  could  boast.  This 
circumstance,  it  is  believed,  induced  the  old  side  party  to  seek  an  alliance  with  it; 


288        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  if  a  cordial  alliance  could  have  been  formed,  it  would,  without  doubt,  have 
been  an  event  highly  favorable  for  the  College,  and  for  the  Presbyterian  Church 
at  large.  That  some  of  the  leading  men  in  each  party  hoped  that  this  might  be 
effected,  and  honestly  labored  to  bring  it  about,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe. 
But  there  was  still  too  much  of  party  views  and  feelings  to  admit  of  such  an  issue. 
The  whole  transaction  bears  marks  of  jealous  caution  and  diplomatic  arrangement 
on  both  sides.  The  College  being  now  without  a  President,  and  known  to  be  in 
great  want  of  funds,  the  opportunity  was  thought  to  be  favorable  for  obtaining  a 
participation,  by  the  old  side  party,  in  the  whole  government  and  instruction  of  the 
institution,  in  consideration  of  the  pecuniary  aid  which  that  party  could  afford  to 
give.  But  the  Board  of  Trustees  proceeded,  as  we  have  seen,  to  elect  a  President, 
even  before  they  opened  a  negotiation ;  and  with  a  design,  it  is  believed,  to  fore- 
close all  interference  or  propositions  in  regard  to  the  choice  of  that  officer.  On 
the  other  hand,  such  representations  were  speedily  made  in  Scotland  of  the  state 
of  the  College  as  were  calculated  to  induce  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  refuse  the  Presi- 
dency, and  which  actually  had  that  effect  till  his  misapprehensions  were  removed 
by  an  agent  of  the  Board.  The  writer  has  in  his  hands  the  unquestionable  evidence 
of  this  fact,  although  it  does  not  appear  in  the  records  of  the  Trustees."  (See  Dr. 
Green's  "  Notes.") 

Of  the  precise  character  of  this  evidence  the  venerable  writer 
gives  us  no  intimation  ;  but  his  positive  declaration  is  conclusive 
as  to  the  existence  of  such  evidence  at  the  time  he  penned  this 
statement.* 

On  the  next  morning,  November  20,  the  Trustees  continued 
their  sessions,  and  in  the  minutes  for  that  day  the  following 
record  occurs : 

"  A  letter  was  delivered  into  this  Board,  signed  by  several  gentlemen  of  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  on  the  subject-matter  of  those  presented  yesterday. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  said  letter  do  lie  with  the  others  on  the  table  for  further 
consideration." 

"  Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Woodruff,  Tennent,  Spencer,  and  Rodgers  be  a  com- 
mittee forthwith  to  wait  upon  the  gentlemen  from  Philadelphia  who  have  signified 
it  to  be  their  desire  to  meet  a  committee  of  this  Board  in  order  to  a  free  conference 
on  the  subject-matter  of  sundry  letters,  &c.,  which  have  been  delivered  by  them; 
and  that  the  said  committee  do  report  the  result  of  the  said  conference  to  this 
Board." 

"  The  committee  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  gentlemen  from  Philadelphia,  being 
returned,  reported,  That  they  had  a  full  and  free  conference  together  upon  the 
subject-matter  of  the  petitions  and  letters  presented  by  those  gentlemen.  That  the 
said  gentlemen  observed  that  the  proposals  made  to  the  Trustees  being  upon  the 
footing  that  the  President's  chair  was  vacant,  they  were  disconcerted  in  their  gen- 

*  It  is  probable  that  "  the  unquestionable  evidence"  mentioned  by  Dr.  Green 
was  contained  in  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty  to  Rev.  Dr.  Treat,  of 
Abington,  Pennsylvania.  (See  sketch  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  Life.) 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.    289 

eral  plan  by  the  election  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  the  Presidentship  before  their  pro- 
posals were  presented;  that  the  said  plan  being  thereby  altered,  they  were  not 
authorized  to  determine  absolutely  what  would  be  done  hereafter  by  their  con- 
stituents respecting  the  general  object  they  had  in  view;  that  nevertheless  they 
were  truly  desirous  that  some  effectual  method  might  be  taken  to  complete  the 
proposed  design.  That  a  proposal  was  made  by  the  said  committee,  viz.,  that  on 
the  supposition  of  the  nomination  of  two  gentlemen  for  Professorships,  to  wit,  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  Blair*  and  McDowell,  on  the  condition  that  money  could  be  raised 
by  the  friends  of  this  Institution  to  support  them,  Whether  their  constituents  would 
be  satisfied,  and  they  would  undertake  to  promote  a  subscription  for  their  support ; 
to  which  the  said  gentlemen  replied,  That  however  desirous  they  were  to  accom- 
plish so  excellent  a  design,  they  would  not  at  present  engage  for  the  future  conduct 
of  their  constituents." 

"  The  Board,  taking  in  mature  consideration  the  above  Report,  came  to  the  follow- 
ing resolution  : 

"  Whereas  it  is  an  object  of  their  greatest  concern  that  union  and  the  strictest 
harmony  among  all  the  friends  and  patrons  of  religion  and  sound  literature  might 
be  promoted  by  every  proper  method,  and  that  this  Institution  may  have  every 
possible  advantage  of  increasing  its  Reputation  and  advancing  the  cause  of  Learn- 
ing ;  And  as  there  appears  reason  to  expect  great  and  happy  consequences  both  to 
the  interest  of  religion  and  of  this  Seminary  from  putting  into  execution  the  gen- 
eral design  of  the  proposals  made,  they  will  gladly  do  everything  in  their  power  to 
accomplish  the  said  end ;  and  accordingly  declare  themselves  greatly  desirous  that 
a  sufficiency  of  moneys  by  subscriptions  or  otherwise  might  be  obtained  to  accom- 
plish this  noble  design ;  and  are  cheerfully  willing  to  join  in  any  particular  method 
that  can  be  devised  for  raising  the  necessary  sums.  For  though  this  Board  would 
gladly  proceed  to  the  election  of  Professors  without  delay,  were  there  funds  suffi- 
cient to  support  such  an  additional  expense ;  yet  they  judge  it  by  no  means  expe- 
dient to  take  that  step  before  they  have  a  certain  medium  for  their  support." 

The  above  extracts  comprise  all  the  action  on  this  subject  at 
this  meeting  of  the  Board. 

The  Rev.  John  Blair,  of  Fagg's  Manor,  Pennsylvania,  was 
chosen  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  John 
Light  or  Leydt,  pastor  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  New 
Brunswick,  resigned. 

*  Knowing  that  some  of  the  Trustees,  and  probably  a  majority,  were  desirous, 
even  at  this  time,  to  appoint  Mr.  Blair  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  College,  the  Rev. 
James  Caldwell,  of  Elizabethtown,  the  Rev.  Alexander  McWhorter,  of  Newark, 
neither,  at  that  time,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Jr., 
then  a  Tutor  in  the  College,  were  earnestly  in  favor  of  having  Dr.  Hopkins  ap- 
pointed instead  of  Mr.  Blair.  They  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  requisite  funds  to 
sustain  Mr.  Blair  could  not  be  had  from  the  friends  of  the  College,  and  this  en- 
couraged these  gentlemen  to  make  a  strenuous  effort  to  secure  the  appointment  of 
Dr.  Hopkins.  (See  letter  of  Mr.  Caldwell,  in  the  Bellamy  Manuscripts.) 


2QQ        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

As  the  Grammar  School  connected  with  the  College  was  "  likely  to  become 
chargeable  to  the  College  funds,"  the  Board  resolved  that  the  teacher  (Mr.  Avery) 
might  continue  the  school  in  the  College,  on  his  own  account,  if  he  thought  it 
expedient ;  but  that  they  would  no  longer  be  responsible  for  its  support. 

"  Mr.  Samuel  Breese,  one  of  the  Executors  of  the  Estate  of  Dr.  Finley,  deceased, 
requesting  an  order  of  this  Board  upon  the  Treasurer,  for  the  payment  of  the 
salary  which  became  due  to  the  said  Dr.  Finley  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  Clerk 
is  directed  immediately  to  make  out  an  order  on  Mr.  Sergeant  for  the  payment 
of  whatever  sum  remained  due  to  the  said  Dr.  Finley  as  his  salary  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  together  with  the  interest  of  the  same  from  the  clay  of  his  decease ; 
and  that  he  take  a  discharge  of  the  same  from  the  Executor  of  the  Estate." 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  took  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  3Oth  of  September,  1767,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commence- 
ment. 

After  the  exercises  usual  on  such  occasions,  eleven  candidates 
were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

The  next  day,  October  I,  the  Board  met  again;  sixteen 
Trustees  being  present.  The  Hon.  Edward  Shippen,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  Trustees  named  in  the  second 
charter  of  the  College,  tendered  his  resignation,  for  the  reason 
that  "  he  finds  himself  incapable,  through  growing  infirmity 
and  distant  residence,  of  giving  attendance."  His  resignation 
was  accepted. 

Mr.  William  Peartree  Smith  "  communicated  a  letter  to  this 
Board  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  wherein  that  gen- 
tleman is  pleased  to  decline  an  acceptance  of  the  Presidentship 
of  this  College,  to  which  he  was  elected  in  November  last." 

"  Mr.  Halsey,  eldest  Tutor  of  this  College,  now  thought  fit  to 
resign  his  office ;  and  requesting  testimonials  in  his  favor  from 
the  Trustees,  It  is  ordered,  That  an  ample  certificate  be  made 
out,  to  be  signed  by  the  Clerk  in  the  name  of  this  Board  and 
sealed  with  the  Corporation  seal,  certifying  the  said  Mr.  Hal- 
sey's  faithful  services  and  good  conduct  during  his  Tutorship  in 
the  College,  with  Recommendation  of  him  as  a  Gentleman  of 
Genius,  Learning,  and  real  Merit." 

The  Rev.  William  Tennent,  the  President /r0  tern.,  submitted 
the  draft  of  sundry  laws  for  the  better  regulation  and  order 
of  the  College ;  which  were  read,  considered,  amended,  and 
unanimously  adopted. 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.    2Ql 

The  first  one  empowered  the  officers  of  the  College  to  ex- 
amine the  classes  at  any  time  of  the  year,  at  their  discretion. 

The  second  prohibited  the  students  from  taking  any  part  in 
the  choice  of  orators  for  Commencement  and  other  public 
exhibitions. 

The  third  was  a  law  to  prevent  damage  to  the  several  rooms 
and  apartments  of  the  College  and  to  the  furniture  of  the  same. 
In  accord  with  this  last  regulation,  Mr.  James  Thompson,  one 
of  the  Tutors,  was  appointed  "  Inspector  of  the  Rooms,"  and 
was  allowed  five  pounds  per  annum  for  this  service. 

The  committee,  Messrs.  Woodruff  and  Ogden,  to  examine 
into  the  general  state  of  the  College  funds,  reported  "  that  they 
find  the  sum  total  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer,  in  Bonds, 
Notes,  &c.,  to  amount  to  the  sum  of  £28 15. 3.1,  of  which  they 
find  only  £950,  or  thereabouts,  to  be  at  present  under  actual 
improvement  at  interest." 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  their  session  this  day,  Mr.  Stockton 
mentioned  to  the  Board  that  there  were  several  gentlemen  from 
Philadelphia  now  in  town,  viz.,  Messrs.  George  Bryan,  William 
Allison,  John  Chevalier,  John  Boyd,  and  John  Wallace,  who 
had  informed  him  that  they  had  something  to  offer  to  this  Cor- 
poration, and  were  desirous  of  being  heard.  Mr.  Stockton  was 
accordingly  requested  immediately  to  wait  upon  those  gentle- 
men and  inform  them  that  the  Trustees  were  now  ready  to  hear 
them. 

"  The  Philadelphia  gentlemen,  being  introduced  by  Mr.  Stock- 
ton, begged  leave  to  remind  the  Trustees  that  they  had  the  last 
year  presented  sundry  papers  and  letters  containing  proposals 
relative  to  the  establishment  of  a  Faculty  in  this  College ;  that 
their  constituents  were  still  vejy  desirous  that  the  general  plan 
should  be  carried  into  execution  if  the  circumstances  of  the 
College  would  possibly  admit  of  it;  and  prayed  that  the  same 
might  be  reconsidered.  The  said  gentlemen  were  then  assured 
that  this  Board  would  come  to  some  determination  thereon  as 
soon  as  possible." 

"  Ordered,  That  the  several  letters  and  proposals  above  mentioned  be  read  and 
maturely  considered;  which  were  read  and  considered  accordingly." 


292        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Stockton,  Ogden,  and  [Dr.  W.]  Shippen  be  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  more  fully  with  those  gentlemen  on  the  subject-matter  of  said 
proposals." 

This  committee  had  a  conference  with  the  delegates  from 
Philadelphia,  and  made  the  following  report  to  the  Board, 


"  That  they  find  those  gentlemen  and  their  constituents  still  heartily  desirous  of 
concurring  with  the  Trustees  of  this  College  in  the  establishment  and  support  of  k 
Faculty,  and  promising  to  unite  their  utmost  endeavors  to  raise  the  necessary  funds 
to  carry  the  same  into  speedy  execution ;  that  the  said  gentlemen  being  asked  by 
the  Committee  whether  the  appointment  of  all  or  any  of  the  particular  persons  to 
Professorships  in  their  proposals  named  and  recommended  was  intended  as  a  Term 
of  their  acceding  to  and  assisting  in  the  establishment  proposed,  replied,  That  it 
was  not  the  intention  to  make  the  appointment  of  any  of  the  particular  persons 
named  by  their  constituents  a  term  of  the  proposed  Union ;  but  that  any  other  gen- 
tlemen who  might  be  deemed  qualified  for  their  offices,  and  indiscriminately  chosen 
without  regard  to  party  distinctions,  would  be  acceptable  to  them." 

"  The  Board  having  taken  the  whole  into  mature  consideration  were  unanimously 
of  the  opinion  that  the  constitution  of  a  Faculty  to  consist  of  well-qualified  Profes- 
sors in  the  several  branches  of  Academical  Science  to  be  chosen  without  regard  to 
any  little  party  differences  would  greatly  subserve  the  interests  of  Religion  and 
Learning  in  this  Seminary,  and  would  tend  to  the  better  and  more  perfect  instruc- 
tion and  government  in  the  same.  And  it  was  accordingly  resolved,  that  in  pur- 
suance of  said  plan,  the  choice  of  a  Faculty  to  consist  of  Professors  in  some  of  the 
most  essential  parts  of  literature  be  entered  upon  to-morrow  morning." 

"  October  2,  9  o'clock  A.M.  Met  according  to  adjournment,  and  present  as 
yesterday.  The  Trustees  having  thought  proper,  pursuant  to  their  resolution  of  yes- 
terday, to  enter  upon  the  choice  of  a  Faculty,  to  consist  of  Professors  in  the  most 
necessary  branches  of  education  in  the  College,  did,  in  the  first  place,  proceed  to 
the  appointment  of  a  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy;  when,  after 
mature  deliberation,  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Blair,  of  Fog's  [Fagg's]  Manor,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  one  of  the  members  of  this  Board,  was  chosen  to  that  office.  Ad- 
journed to  3  o'clock  P.M. 

"  The  Trustees  now  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  a  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  when  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  of  Philadelphia,  was  duly  elected 
to  that  office ;  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  now  a  Tutor  in  this  College,  was  also 
duly  chosen  to  the  Professorship  of  Languages  and  Logic. 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon  having  thought  fit  to  decline  the  invitation  of 
this  Board  to  the  Presidentship  of  the  College,  the  Trustees  proceeded  to  the  choice 
of  a  President  to  succeed  the  reverend  and  worthy  Dr.  Finley,  deceased.  After 
mature  deliberation,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Blair,  of  Boston,  in  New  England,  was 
duly  elected  President  of  this  College,  and  also  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Meta- 
physics. Nemine  contradicente. 

"  Mr.  George  Bryan,  of  Philadelphia  [one  of  the  delegates  from  that  city  to  con- 
fer with  the  Board],  was  unanimously  chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the  room  of  Edward 
Shippen,  Esq.,  resigned." 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.    293 

"  Voted,  That  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  proclamation  be  allowed  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  William  Tennent  in  consideration  of  his  services  to  this  College  as  Vice- 
president  pro  tern,  from  the  igth  of  November  last  to  the  present  Commencement; 
and  ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  pay  unto  the  said  Mr.  Tennent  the  said  sum  of 
;£ioo  out  of  the  first  moneys  that  he  may  have  in  his  hands. 

"  Voted,  That  the  annual  salaries  of  the  President  and  Professors,  now  chosen,  to 
commence  from  the  time  they  shall  respectively  enter  upon  their  several  offices, 
shall  be  as  follows  : 

To  the  President  and  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Metaphysics  .  £200 
"       Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy       .         .  175 

"       Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy      .  .150 

"       Professor  of  Languages  and  Logic     .         .         .         .  .125 

"  The  Trustees  having  now,  pursuant  to  the  plan  proposed,  nominated  and 
chosen  several  gentlemen  of  reputation  in  the  literary  world  and  undoubted  skill 
in  those  branches  of  science  to  which  they  are  designed,  do  find,  that  notwith- 
standing they  have  annexed  the  most  moderate  salaries  to  the  respective  offices, 
the  present  state  of  the  College  revenues  renders  it  impossible  for  them  to  provide 
the  sum  total  of  the  said  salaries,  and  that  it  is  therefore  not  in  their  power  imme- 
diately to  invite  and  introduce  together  the  four  Professors  elect  to  the  actual 
execution  of  their  offices,  as  a  Faculty,  even  should  they  all  acquiesce  in  their 
present  election,  which  is  yet  an  uncertainty;  and  as  four  Instructors  are  imme- 
diately requisite  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the  College,  it  is  resolved  to  continue 
the  present  constitution  under  a  Vice-President  and  three  Tutors,  at  least  during 
the  year  ensuing, — that  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  President  elect  be  called  to  the 
exercise  of  his  office, — and  if,  in  the  interim,  any  means  may  be  devised  to  enable 
the  Trustees  to  support  two  other  Professors  (viz.,  the  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  the  Professor  of  Languages  and  Logic),  in  that  case 
the  gentlemen  now  elected  to  those  offices  shall  be  called  to  enter  upon  the  same, 
and  the  constitution  by  a  Faculty  shall  then  take  place. 

"  Pursuant  to  the  above  resolution,  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Blair,  who  is  pleased  to 
accept  of  the  Professorship  of  Divinity  and  Morality,  was  chosen  Vice-President 
until  the  next  Commencement,  and  was  accordingly  qualified  to  [hold]  those 
offices,  as  the  Charter  directs. 

"  Mr.  Joseph  Periam  was  also  duly  elected  Senior  Tutor  of  the  College,  in  the 
room  of  Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey  resigned,  and  [was]  qualified,  as  the  Charter  directs. 

"  Mr.  James  Thompson,  Second  Tutor,  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards,  Junior 
Tutor,  whose  services  and  conduct  in  their  respective  offices  being  much  approved, 
were  requested  by  Mr.  Tennent,  in  the  name  of  this  Board,  to  continue  in  their 
said  offices  for  the  year  ensuing,  to  which  they  were  pleased  to  signify  their 
compliance." 

"  Voted,  That  there  be  allowed  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  proc.  to  each  of 
the  Tutors,  as  their  respective  salaries  for  the  year  ensuing." 

"  Voted,  That  the  expenses  that  may  accrue  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Blair,  in  the 
removal  of  himself  and  family  to  Nassau  Hall,  be  defrayed  out  of  the  College 
treasury." 

"  Dr.  Shippen  is  desired  to  inform  Dr.  Williamson,  by  letter,  in  the  name  of  this 


294        HISTOR  Y  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NE  W  JERSE  K 

Board,  of  his  election  to  the  Professorship  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy, 
and  to  acquaint  him  with  their  resolution  to  defer  calling  him  to  the  exercise  of 
the  said  office  for  at  least  one  year,  and  until  they  are  enabled  to  provide  the  sup- 
port annexed  to  the  same. 

"  Mr.  Spencer  is  desired  to  notify  the  congregation  at  Fog's  [Fagg's]  Manor  of 
Mr.  Blair's  election  to  a  Professorship  in  this  College,  and  to  pursue  the  necessary 
steps,  in  behalf  of  this  Board,  for  obtaining  the  said  Mr.  Blair's  discharge  from  his 
pastoral  office,  in  order  to  his  speedy  removal." 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  of  Amwell,  New  Jersey,  was  elected  a  Trustee,  in 
the  room  of  Mr.  Blair,  resigned. 

Mr.  Blair  was  released  from  his  pastoral  charge,  and  removed  to  Princeton. 
None  of  the  other  Professors  accepted  their  appointments;  and  no  reference  to 
their  appointments  occurs  in  the  subsequent  minutes  of  the  Board,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  following  minutes,  of  December  10,  1767:*  "The  Trustees  having 
thought  it  expedient,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  establish  and  support  a  number  of 
Professors  in  this  College,  that  subscriptions  in  this  and  the  neighboring  colonies 
should  be  set  forward  among  the  friends  of  religion  and  learning,  and  Mr.  [W.  P.] 
Smith  presenting  a  draught  of  a  preamble  to  said  proposed  subscription  papers,  the 
one  designed  to  be  subscribed  by  such  persons  as  may  choose  to  contribute  a  sum 
in  gross,  the  other  as  an  annual  subscription  to  continue  for  seven  years,  from  the 
1st  of  August,  1768,  the  same  were  examined  and  approved;  and  Mr.  Bryan  is 
desired  to  order  three  hundred  of  each  sort  to  be  forthwith  printed  at  Philadelphia, 
and  to  distribute  a  number  of  each  to  every  member  of  this  Board,  who  mutually 
engage  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to  promote  subscriptions  in  the  Country.  And 
the  said  Mr.  Bryan  is  directed  to  draw  upon  the  Treasurer  for  the  expense  of 
printing  the  same." 

"  This  Board  being  informed  that  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
have  lately  appointed  an  annual  contribution  to  be  made  in  the  several  congrega- 
tions throughout  their  bounds  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  promoting  Christian 
knowledge,  and  conceiving  a  yearly  appropriation  of  some  part  of  said  contribu- 
tion for  and  towards  the  support  of  a  Divinity  Professor  in  this  College  would  per- 
fectly accord  with  the  views  of  the  Synod  in  the  said  appointment,  as  the  well 
training  up  and  instruction  of  our  youth  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  would  be 
one  of  the  most  effectual  means  to  accomplish  the  excellent  purposes  designed  by 
said  contributions,  It  is  therefore  ordered,  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rodgers  do  pre- 
pare a  draught  of  a  letter  to  said  Synod,  requesting  an  annual  appropriation  of  part 
of  those  collections  towards  the  maintenance  of  a  Professor  of  Divinity  in  this  Col- 
lege, to  be  laid  before  the  Board  this  afternoon." 

"  Mr.  Rodgers,  pursuant  to  order,  laid  before  the  Board  a  draught  of  a  letter  to  the 
Reverend  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia ;  which  being  read  and  ap- 
proved, it  was  ordered  that  the  same  be  transcribed  and  signed  by  the  Clerk,  and 
that  Mr.  Rodgers  do  present  it  at  the  next  meeting  of  said  Synod." 

This  letter  was  laid  before  the  Synod,  at  their  sessions  in 

*  On  page  181  of  the  first  volume  of  Minutes  there  is  a  reference  to  the  plan  for 
appointing  Professors,  but  no  reference  to  the  particular  appointments  now  made. 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  7768.     295 

Philadelphia,  in  the  month  of  May,  1768,  and  the  following  is 
the  minute  of  the  Synod's  action  in  regard  to  it : 

"  A  supplication  was  brought  in  from  the  honorable  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
New  Jersey  College,  praying  assistance  in  supporting  a  Professor  of  Divinity,  from 
the  last  year's  collection,  and  was  fully  considered,  and  the  Synod  judge  that  they 
cannot  give  any  part  of  the  money  collected  last  year  towards  the  support  of  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity  in  said  College,  but  do  agree,  and  hereby  order,  that  a  general 
collection  be  made  for  this  purpose  in  all  our  congregations;  and  that  the  money 
raised  by  this  separate  collection  be  applied  particularly  by  this  Synod,  yearly,  for 
this  purpose  till  expended ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  in  order  to  assist  in  supporting  a 
Professor  of  Divinity  in  said  College,  the  Synod  do  agree  to  give  the  present  Pro- 
fessor the  sum  of  fifty  pounds  out  of  the  money  now  in  the  hands  of  our  Treasurer, 
to  be  refunded  next  year. 

"  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Treat,  our  Treasurer,  pay  this  sum  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey." 

Mr.  Blair,  the  Professor  of  Divinity,  was  the  Moderator  of 
the  Synod  this  year. 

Under  the  date  of  the  25th  of  May,  1769,  the  following 
minute  occurs  in  the  records  of  the  Synod : 

"  The  Synod  do  agree  to  give  the  honorable  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  New 
Jersey  College,  towards  supporting  a  Professor  of  Divinity  in  that  institution,  sixty 
pounds  for  the  last  year,  and  sixty  pounds  for  the  current  year,  out  of  the  col- 
lections made  in  our  congregations  for  this  purpose,  agreeable  to  an  order  of  last 
session.  The  fifty  pounds  lent  that  honorable  Board  last  year  is  refunded." 

At  the  opening  of  the  next  term  after  his  election,  Mr.  Blair, 
as  Vice-President,  took  the  oversight  of  the  College,  and,  aided 
by  the  three  Tutors  above  named,  conducted  its  instruction  and 
government,  as  previously  ordered  by  the  Board, — it  being  ex- 
pressly said  at  the  time  of  their  appointment  that  the  President 
elect,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  and  the  Professors  elect  of  Mathe- 
matics and  of  Languages,  were  not  expected  to  enter  upon  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices  for  at  least  one  year. 

"These  arrangements,"  says  President  Green,  "appear  to  have  been  proposed 
on  the  one  side,  and  acceded  to  on  the  other,  with  a  view  to  show  a  conciliatory 
disposition.  One  professor  of  the  old  side  party  was  chosen ;  and  at  the  same 
meeting  one  gentleman  of  that  party  was  unanimously  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  Board  of  Trustees.  While  this  was  done,  effectual  care 
was  taken  to  give  no  pledges  which  could  produce  subsequent  embarrassment. 
These  measures  were,  perhaps,  the  best  which  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
Board  was  placed  would  admit ;  yet  it  seems  strange  that  any  one  should  seriously 


296        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

expect  that  they  would  ever  be  carried  into  effect.  It  is  believed  by  the  writer 
[Dr.  Green]  that  many  members  of  the  Board,  at  this  very  time,  cherished  a  pretty 
sanguine  hope  that  Dr.  Witherspoon  would  yet  become  the  President  of  the  College. 
That  event,  whether  expected  or  not,  did  at  length  take  place ;  and  not  a  word  after- 
wards appears  on  the  records  in  regard  to  the  appointments  which  were  now  made, 
nor  in  reference  to  any  part  of  this  negotiation  and  agreement  relative  to  a  faculty. 
There  had  never,  indeed,  been  any  open  or  avowed  opposition  to  the  election  of 
Dr.  Witherspoon.  And  when  he  entered  on  his  office,  his  prudence,  talents,  and 
weight  of  character  not  only  put  an  end  to  party  measures  in  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
but  contributed  greatly  to  produce  effect  in  the  councils  of  the  Church  to  which  he 
belonged." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  at  which  the  matters  above 
mentioned  took  place, 

"  Mr.  Tennent  communicated  a  letter  from  Mr.  Stephen  Sayre,  of  London, 
merchant,  wherein  he  is  pleased  to  offer,  if  properly  empowered,  to  exert  his  en- 
deavors in  England  for  obtaining  benefactions  in  favor  of  this  College.  Resolved, 
That  the  thanks  of  this  Board  be  transmitted  to  that  gentleman  for  his  polite  and 
generous  offer,  and  that  Mr.  Rodgers  do  write  to  the  said  Mr.  Sayre  in  the  name  of 
this  Board,  expressing  their  grateful  acknowledgments  for  his  proffered  services  in 
England ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  enclose  a  general  commission  from  the  Trustees 
of  this  College,  to  be  signed  by  the  Clerk  in  their  name,  and  sealed  with  the  Corpora- 
tion seal,  empowering  him  to  act  as  their  agent  and  attorney  in  soliciting  and  re- 
ceiving benefactions  in  Books,  Philosophical  Instruments,  and  subscriptions  for 
the  use  of  said  College,  and  to  employ  any  attorneys  under  him  for  said  purpose."  * 

Mr.  Halsey,  who  had  been  a  Tutor  for  ten  years,  having  re- 
signed his  office,  the  Trustees,  in  addition  to  the  testimonial 
which  they  directed  should  be  given,  voted  him  forty  pounds 
over  and  above  his  regular  salary  for  the  year. 

The  Treasurer  was  ordered  to  collect  the  outstanding  debts 
of  the  last  lottery  with  all  possible  despatch. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  settle  Mr.  Stockton's  account 
with  the  College  while  he  was  in  Great  Britain. 

*  "  Stephen  Sayre,  the  gentleman  named  in  this  minute,"  says  Dr.  Green,  "was 
a  native  American,  and  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall  in  1757.  He  was  at  this  time  an 
eminent  London  merchant,  and  afterwards  the  high  sheriff  of  that  city.  His  kind 
dispositions  towards  his  Alma  Mater  were  certainly  commendable;  but  there  is  no 
record  of  any  donations  which  he  obtained  for  the  College.  Perhaps  his  earnest 
expectations  were  disappointed  by  the  ardent  controversies  which  about  this  time 
took  place  in  regard  to  the  claims  of  the  mother-country  and  the  colonies.  In  those 
controversies  Mr.  Sayre  participated  deeply.  He  eventually  left  Britain,  returned 
to  his  native  country,  and  lived  in  retirement  to  a  very  advanced  age.  He  died  in 
Virginia  about  four  years  since,  about  the  year  1818." 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.     297 

Provision  was  made  for  a  new  edition  of  the  Newark  (Latin) 
Grammar,  to  be  revised  and  published  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell, 
and  Messrs.  Reeve  and  Pemberton,  masters  of  the  grammar- 
school  at  Elizabethtown. 

December  9,  1767,  a  special  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was 
called,  in  accordance  with  the  charter,  at  the  request  of  six 
members  of  the  Board. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Smith,  the  senior  Trustee  present, 
and  who  presided  on  this  occasion, 

"  communicated  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair  to  the  Honorable  William 
Smith,  Esq.,  the  President  of  the  Trustees  at  their  last  meeting,  wherein  the  said 
Mr.  Blair  declines  accepting  the  Presidentship  of  this  College,  to  which  he  was 
chosen ;  and  the  said  office  was  accordingly  declared  to  be  vacant." 

At  this  same  meeting 

"  Mr.  Stockton  communicated  to  the  Board  sundry  letters  he  had  recently  received 
from  Scotland,  informing  him  that  the  difficulties  which  had  prevented  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's  acceptance  of  the  Presidentship  to  which  he  had  been  chosen  were  now 
removed,  and  that  upon  a  re-election  he  would  esteem  it  a  duty  to  enter  into  this 
public  service.  The  Board,  receiving  the  intelligence  with  peculiar  satisfaction, 
proceeded  immediately  to  a  re-election,  when  the  said  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  again 
unanimously  chosen  to  the  said  office;"  and  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  salary  to  be  allowed  Dr.  Witherspoon  as  President  of  the 
College  be  according  to  the  propositions  made  to  him  in  the  letter  wrote  him  by 
the  President  of  this  Board  upon  his  former  election ;  together  with  the  explanation 
thereof  mentioned  to  the  said  Dr.  Witherspoon  by  Mr.  Stockton,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Board,  in  his  letter  from  Edinburgh,  dated  ad  March,  1767.  And 
that  the  same  sum  of  one  hundred  guineas,  as  on  his  former  election,  be  allowed 
him  for  the  expenses  of  removing  himself  and  his  family  to  this  place." 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  this  Board  be  desired  immediately  to  transmit 
a  copy  of  the  above  vote  to  Dr.  Witherspoon ;  and  also  to  send  a  duplicate  of  the 
same  by  the  first  opportunity,  to  be  accompanied  with  his  letter,  requesting  the  said 
Dr.  Witherspoon  to  hasten  his  coming  over  as  soon  as  he  conveniently  can." 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Blair  mentioned  above  as  having  declined 
the  Presidency  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  of  Fagg's 
Manor,  Pennsylvania,  and,  like  his  father,  was  distinguished  for 
talent  and  learning  as  well  as  for  piety.  He  was  also  a  nephew 
of  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  the  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral 
Philosophy.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  College  in  1760,  and 
was  a  Tutor  for  three  years  during  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Finley,  and,  as  mentioned  in  the  sketch  of  that  administra- 
tion, he  was  the  author  of  the  account  of  the  College  published 
VOL.  i. — 20 


298        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

by  order  of  the  Trustees  in  1764.  At  the  time  of  his  election 
as  President  of  the  College  he  was  a  colleague  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Sevvall,  minister  of  South  Church,  Boston.  He  was  not  thirty 
years  of  age  when  he  was  chosen  President.  Speaking  of  this 
event,  and  of  his  declining  the  appointment,  President  Green, 
in  his  "  Notes,"  observes,  "  But  at  that  time  a  youth  of  higher 
promise  was  probably  not  to  be  found  in  the  American  Church." 

"  The  writer,"  continues  Dr.  Green,  "  has  learned  from  good  authority  that  as  soon 
as  Mr.  Blair  had  ascertained  that  a  re-election  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  would  secure  his 
services  and  influence  in  favor  of  the  College,  a  voluntary  and  prompt  tender  of 
the  resignation  here  recorded  prevented  the  embarrassment  in  which  the  Trustees 
might  otherwise  have  been  involved.  Dr.  Witherspoon  has  been  known  to  men- 
tion this  act  as  an  instance  of  disinterestedness  and  generosity  highly  creditable  to 
Mr.  Blair. 

"  This  gentleman,  shortly  after  his  resignation  of  the  Presidency,  fell  into  a  vale- 
tudinary state,  which  induced  him  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge  in  Boston,  and 
which  rendered  his  subsequent  life  little  else  than  a  long  disease.  He  resided  for 
many  years  at  Germantown,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia,  and  performed 
such  ministerial  services  as  his  heallh  would  permit.  For  two  years  he  served  as 
chaplain  in  Congress.  The  writer  recollects  many  pleasing  hours  spent  in  his 
company  in  an  acquaintance  of  nearly  thirty  years'  continuance.  He  died  about 
two  years  since  [1820]." — (See  Dr.  Green's  "  Notes.") 

After  their  second  election  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  the  Trustees 
passed  a  resolution  designed  to  prevent  candidates  from  enter- 
ing any  other  than  the  Freshman  class  ;  but  this  order  was  soon 
repealed  and  the  previous  rule  re-established. 

The  following  important  rule  was  adopted  at  this  time: 

"  Voted,  That  the  practice  of  sending  Freshmen  upon  errands,  or  employing  them 
as  servitors  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  be  from  henceforth  totally  discontinued." 

"  Mr.  Stockton  having  informed  the  Board  that  he  had  received  when  in  England 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling,  which  was  given  to  the  Trustees  of  this 
College  in  trust  for  and  towards  the  support  of  a  Divinity  Professor  in  the  same,  by 
Mr.  Williamson,  of  Hanover,  in  Virginia;  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Redman  do  transmit 
the  thanks  of  this  Board,  by  letter,  to  the  said  Mr.  Williamson  for  his  generous 
donation." 

The  grammar-school  in  connection  with  the  College  having  been  discontinued 
after  the  death  of  President  Finley,  the  Trustees  now  appointed  a  committee  "  to 
consider  of  ways  and  means  for  setting  and  promoting  the  same,  .  .  .  and  to  report 
at  the  next  meeting." 

During  this  interval  the  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  Trustees  : 

The  Rev.  John  Blair,  in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  John  Light  (Leydt),  resigned. 

Hon.  George  Bryan,  in  the  room  of  Hon.  Edward  Shippen,  resigned. 


INTERVAL  BETWEEN  JULY,  1766,  AND  AUGUST,  1768.    299 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  elected  Professor. 

The  following  gentlemen  composed  the  Faculty  : 

The  Rev.  William  Tennent,  President  pro  tern.,  from  July  17  to  October  2,  1767. 

The  Rev.  John  Blair,  Vice-President,  from  October  2,  1767,  to  August  17,  1768; 
Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy  until  the  annual  Commencement,  Sep- 
tember 27,  1769. 

Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  Senior  Tutor. 

Mr.  James  Thompson. 

Mr.  Joseph  Periam,  Senior  Tutor  upon  Mr.  Halsey's  resignation. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Edwards. 

At  the  annnual  Commencement  of  1767  there  were  eleven  graduates,  and  at  that 
of  1768  there  were  also  eleven;  total  for  both  years,  twenty-two.  Of  these,  eight 
became  ministers  of  the  gospel.  The  most  distinguished  of  these  graduates  in  after- 
life were — of  the  class  of 

1767.  Francis  Barber,  A.M.,  of  New  Jersey,  a  classical  teacher  of  much  repute; 
also  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  U.  S.  Army. 

1767.  Nathaniel  Ramsay,  A.M.,  of  Maryland,  a  lawyer  of  eminence,  a  Colonel 
in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

1767.  Samuel  Witham  Stockton,  A.M.,  Secretary  of  State  for  New  Jersey;  pre- 
viously he  was  Secretary  of  the  American  Commission  to  the  Courts  of  Austria  and 
Prussia. 

1768.  Rev.  Robert  Blackwell,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  an  Episcopal  clergyman, 
a  Chaplain  and  also  a  Surgeon  in  the  U.  S.  Army. 

1768.  Ephraim  Brevard,  M.D.,  reputed  author  of  the  Mecklenburg  Resolutions; 
a  Surgeon  in  the  U.  S.  Army. 

1768.  Pierpont  Edwards,  A.M.,  a  son  of  President  Edwards,  Judge  of  the  U.  S.. 
District  Court  for  Connecticut,  and  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

1768.  Wm.  Churchill  Houston,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  College 
of  New  Jersey;  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

1768.  Adlai  Osborne,  during  the  Revolution  a  Colonel  in  the  U.  S.  Army;  also 
a  Trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 

1768.  Rev.  Thomas  Reese,  D.D.,  of  South  Carolina,  a  scholar  and  a  minister 
of  much  repute. 

1768.  Rev.  Elias  Van  Bunschooten,  a  minister  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 
He  left  a  large  legacy  to  Queen's  College,  New  Brunswick. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

DR.  WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION,  FROM   AUGUST  17.  1768, 
TO  NOVEMBER  15,  1794. 

DR.  WITHERSPOON  was  inaugurated  on  the  i/th  of  August, 
1768,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  called  for  this  purpose. 
The  minute  of  the  Board  in  reference  to  his  inauguration  is  as 
follows  :  "  The  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon  being  now  arrived  from 
North  Britain  to  preside  at  the  head  of  this  Institution,  pur- 
suant to  his  re-election  at  the  last  meeting,  was  duly  qualified 
as  the  charter  directs ;  and,  having  taken  the  oaths  of  office  as 
one  of  the  Trustees  and  President  of  the  College,  took  his  seat 
accordingly." 

So  far  as  appears  from  the  minutes,  there  was  no  other  cere- 
mony connected  with  his  entrance  upon  the  duties  of  his  office; 
but  in  a  short  sketch  of  his  administration,  given  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Ashbel  Green  before  the  Alumni  Association  in  1840,  and 
published  in  the  "Presbyterian  Magazine"  for  1854,  it  is  ex- 
pressly said  that  he  delivered  a  Latin  inaugural  address  on  the 
union  of  Piety  and  Science.  The  venerable  author  of  this 
statement  confirmed  it  by  adding,  "  I  had  an  opportunity,  when 
a  member  of  the  Senior  class  in  College,  of  perusing  the  Ad- 
dress, in  the  handwriting  of  its  author;  but  it  has  not  been 
found  among  the  manuscripts  which  were  left  by  the  Doctor  at 
the  time  of  his  death." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  most  cordially  welcomed  by  the  Trus- 
tees and  other  friends  of  the  College,  and  also  by  the  commu- 
nity at  large.  They  all  expected  great  benefits  to  result  to  the 
College  from  his  accession  to  the  Presidency ;  and  in  this  they 
were  not  disappointed. 

The  first  order  passed  by  the  Board,  after  his  inauguration, 
was  one  directing  the  Treasurer  of  the  College  to  pay  Dr. 
300 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


301 


Witherspoon,  "  with  the  first  moneys  that  may  come  into  his 
hands,  one  hundred  guineas,  the  same  being  the  sum  that  was 
voted  by  this  Board  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  his  removal 
to  this  country."  This  shows  the  low  condition  of  the  College 
funds  at  this  time. 

The  following  resolutions  were  also  passed : 

"  Voted,  That  the  salary  of  the  President  of  this  College  be  fixed  at  three  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  proclamation  money  of  this  Province,  exclusive  of  house  and  the 
customary  use  of  the  College  lands.  Which  sum  of  .£350  is  equal  to  .£206  sterling 
money  of  Great  Britain,  mentioned  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  at  his  first  election,  in  a 
letter  sent  him  by  order  of  this  Board,  and  agreeable  to  an  explanation  of  the  same 
in  Mr.  Stockton's  letter  written  to  him  from  Edinburgh,  ad  of  March,  1767." 

There  is  no  mention  in  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  at  which 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  chosen  President  of  the  College  that  his 
salary  should  be  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  proc.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  some  weeks  before  his  election, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  President's  salary  should  be  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  proc.,  with  the  usual  perquisites.  It  is  not  im- 
probable, however,  that  in  the  letters  sent  to  Dr.  Witherspoon 
and  to  Mr.  Stockton  there  were  intimations  of  a  willingness  to 
make  his  salary  three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 

"  Voted,  That  the  President's  salary  do  commence  from  the  fifteenth  day  of  May 
last,  being  the  day  of  his  discharge  from  his  pastoral  office  at  Paisley  to  enter  upon 
this  service." 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon,  President  of  this  College,  having,  at  the  request  of  several 
friends  to  this  Institution,  taken  a  tour  from  Paisley  to  London,  and  from  thence  to 
Holland,  and  having  thereby  done  eminent  service  to  this  College,  It  is  ordered, 
That  the  thanks  of  this  Board  be  given  to  the  said  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  that  the 
Treasurer  is  ordered  to  pay  unto  him  the  balance  of  his  account  of  expenses  on  that 
service,  amounting  to  the  sum  of  ^42.9.0,  sterling  money  of  Great  Britain." 

Of  the  precise  character  of  this  "  eminent  service"  no  men- 
tion is  made  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board.  It  no  doubt  con- 
sisted, in  part,  in  a  successful  effort  to  enlist  the  kind  feelings 
of  sundry  friends  of  religion  and  learning  in  behalf  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  to  prepare  the  way  for  benefactions  in  books,  appa- 
ratus, and  gifts  to  the  College  treasury.  For  at  the  time  the 
above  minute  was  made  we  find  also  the  following: 

"  The  President  having  informed  the  Board  that  he  had  brought  over  a  consider- 
able number  of  Books  for  the  use  of  the  College,  amounting  to  about  300  volumes, 


,02        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

which  were  gifts  of  sundry  friends  abroad,  and  that  he  soon  expects  another  con- 
siderable benefaction  in  Books,  the  Trustees  do  most  thankfully  accept  the  same, 
and  request  that  the  President  will  be  pleased,  by  letter,  in  their  name,  to  express 
to  the  several  Benefactors  their  grateful  acknowledgments  for  these  useful  dona- 
tions." 

It  was  next  "  Voted,  That  Dr.  Witherspoon  be  allowed  the 
privilege  of  educating  his  sons  in  this  College,  without  payment 
of  tuition-money  or  other  occasional  fees." 

After  a  reference  to  the  action  of  the  Board  in  1751  on  the 
subject  of  College  habits,  of  which  action,  however,  no  mention 
is  made  in  the  minutes  of  that  year,  but  to  which  there  is  an 
allusion  in  the  minutes  of  1752,  the  following  stringent  rule  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

"  That  from  and  after  the  next  Commencement  Vacation  in  this  present  year, 
1768,  all  the  officers  and  students  of  Nassau  Hall  shall  appear  uniformly  habited, 
in  a  proper  collegiate  black  gown  and  square  cap,  to  be  made  in  the  manner  and 
form  of  those  now  used  in  some  of  our  neighboring  colleges,  and  perfectly  uniform, 
excepting  proper  distinctions  that  may  be  devised  by  the  officers  of  the  College  to 
distinguish  the  habits  of  the  President,  Professors,  and  Tutors  from  those  of  the 
students.  And  it  is  hereby  strictly  ordained,  That  no  resident  student  or  under- 
graduate, subject  to  the  rules  and  orders  of  the  College,  shall  at  any  time,  after  the 
next  Commencement  vacation,  appear  either  at  church,  in  the  College  Hall  at  prayer, 
or  at  any  other  collegiate  exercises,  or  at  any  time  abroad,  or  out  of  the  Hall  (except- 
ing the  back-yard  of  the  College  only,  and  that  on  necessary  occasions),  without  being 
clothed  in  their  proper  College  habits,  on  penalty  of  five  shillings  proc.  money,  to 
be  levied  upon  every  student  who  shall  offend  against  this  law." 

How  far  this  rule  was  ever  enforced  is  not  known.  To  us 
it  seems  ill  adapted  to  an  American  college,  not  to  speak  in 
stronger  terms.  If  it  ever  went  into  operation  to  its  full  extent, 
it  happily  soon  ceased  to  be  of  binding  force  with  respect  to 
some  of  its  provisions.  For  many  years,  indeed,  the  students 
were  required  each  to  wear  a  black  gown  at  all  services  in  the 
College  Chapel  and  at  all  public  declamations ;  but  at  this  day 
(1873)  College  habits  are  seen  only  at  Commencements  and 
other  exhibitions,  and  this  has  been  the  case  for  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  fifty  years. 

The  law  respecting  College  habits,  passed  in  1751,  was  re- 
pealed by  the  Trustees  at  the  only  meeting  at  which  President 
Edwards  was  present,  viz.,  of  February  16,  1758.  But  to  this 
repeal  no  reference  is  made  in  the  preamble  to  this  order.  The 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


303 


action  of  the  Board  in  1758  may  have  escaped  the  recollection 
of  the  author  of  the  above  minute,  who,  probably,  was  Mr.  Wm. 
P.  Smith,  the  gentleman  who,  in  the  year  1752,  procured  two 
habits,  one  for  the  use  of  the  President,  and  the  other  as  a  pat- 
tern for  the  habits  to  be  worn  by  the  students,  who  were  left  at 
liberty  to  wear  them  or  not,  as  they  pleased.  It  is  not  improb- 
able that  Dr.  Witherspoon,  just  arrived  from  Scotland,  where 
college  habits  were  customary,  was  in  favor  of  the  rule  now 
adopted.  The  minutes  show  that  Mr.  Smith  was  present  at  this 
meeting  of  the  I7th  of  August,  1768. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  on  Wednesday,  the  28th 
of  September,  1768.  Eleven  members  of  the  Senior  class  were 
admitted  to  their  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  among  whom  were 
Ephraim  Brevard,  the  author  of  the  Mecklenburg  Resolutions  ; 
Pierpont  Edwards,  a  son  of  President  Edwards,  and  Judge  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  in  Connecticut ;  and  Wm. 
Churchill  Houston,  the  first  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Nat- 
ural Philosophy  in  the  College,  and  afterwards  a  member  of  the 
Convention  that  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

At  this  meeting  William  Livingston,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  was 
chosen  a  Trustee.  This  gentleman  was  afterwards  Governor  of 
New  Jersey,  and  ex  officio  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Mr.  Wm.  P.  Smith  communicated  a  letter  from  Mr.  Jonathan 
Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  executors  of  Colonel  Peter 
Bayard,  of  Maryland,  wherein  he  informed  the  Board  that  Col- 
onel Bayard  left  to  the  College  a  legacy  of  twenty  pounds,  to 
be  paid  within  one  year  after  his  decease,  to  be  applied  to  the 
education  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  ;  and  that  the  executors 
were  prepared  to  pay  the  same.  The  Treasurer  was  ordered  to 
receive  the  same  and  to  give  the  executors  a  full  discharge. 

A  new  arrangement  was  made  with  the  Steward  for  the 
boarding  of  the  students,  according  to  which  the  Steward  en- 
gages to  "  find  and  provide  for  the  said  scholars  such  food  as 
has  been  heretofore  served  up  to  them,  and  Small  Beer  to  drink, 
at  the  Price  of  six  shillings  and  sixpence  proclamation  money 
of  New  Jersey,  by  the  week,"  or,  in  other  words,  for  eighty-six 
and  one-third  cents  a  week. 

The  attention  of  the  Board  was  given  very  much  to  the  aug- 


304        HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

mentation  of  the  funds  of  the  College,  and  to  the  collecting  of 
moneys  due  the  Corporation.  And  while  the  Trustees,  in  the 
straitened  condition  of  the  College  treasury,  were  liberal  to- 
wards the  President,  they  were  not  equally  generous  towards 
Mr.  Blair,  the  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy.  To 
him  they  gave  but  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds  proc.; 
and  when  the  congregations  of  Maidenhead  (now  Lawrence)  and 
Kingston  desired  to  secure  his  services  as  their  preacher,  on 
alternate  Sabbaths,  for  the  ensuing  year,  the  Trustees  consented 
to  his  acceptance  of  their  offers  on  the  condition  that  of  the 
ninety-five  pounds  which  he  was  to  receive  for  this  service  he 
should  pay  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  for  the  use  of  the 
institution,  forty-five  pounds ;  and  this  they  required  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  a  part  of  his  official  duty  to  preach  to  the 
students.  Had  their  consenting  to  this  arrangement  involved 
the  incurring  of  additional  expense  on  the  part  of  the  Board  for 
the  supply  of  the  pulpit,  the  condition  would  not  have  been  un- 
reasonable ;  but  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  on  the  ground,  and  was 
ready  and  willing  to  preach  to  the  students.  We  shall  find, 
however,  that  the  Trustees  thought  better  of  this  demand  on 
their  part,  and  relinquished  it.  Mr.  Blair  was  a  man  of  rare 
talent  and  learning,  and  an  able  preacher.  He  was  chosen 
Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy,  and  pro  tern.  Vice- 
President  of  the  College,  after  Dr.  Witherspoon  declined  his 
first  invitation  from  the  Board  to  become  the  President,  and  for 
nearly  a  year  before  Dr.  Witherspoon's  arrival  in  this  country 
Mr.  Blair  was  at  the  head  of  the  institution. 

But  notwithstanding  all  their  efforts  to  obtain  funds,  and 
their  success  to  some  extent,  by  contributions  from  individuals 
and  from  the  churches  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  it  was  found  very  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, to  meet  all  the  demands  upon  the  treasury  of  the  College. 
To  relieve  the  Board  from  their  pecuniary  embarrassment,  Mr. 
Blair,  of  his  own  motion,  addressed  to  the  Trustees  a  letter,  of 
the  date  of  April  6,  1769,  offering  to  resign  his  place  in  the 
College.  The  paper  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
minutes,  and  was  made  the  basis  of  the  Board's  action  in  this 
matter. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


305 


"  GENTLEMEN, — I  do  hereby  gratefully  acknowledge  the  honor  you  have  con- 
ferred upon  me  in  calling  me  to  this  Institution  as  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral 
Philosophy,  and  it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  me,  in  itself  considered,  to  continue 
in  this  service.  But  it  is  a  very  discouraging  consideration  that  the  funds  are  so 
very  inadequate  to  the  expense  as  to  render  it  very  doubtful  whether  after  the 
utmost  efforts  a  sufficient  capital  can  be  raised.  In  the  course  of  divine  Provi- 
dence, too,  a  state  of  things  very  different  from  that  in  view  at  the  time  of  my  elec- 
tion has  taken  place.  If,  therefore,  it  appears  to  the  Board  that  the  business  they 
have  been  pleased  to  assign  me  may  devolve  upon  the  President,  and  thereby  the 
expense  of  my  salary  be  saved,  in  that  case  I  would  willingly  resign.  And  the  dis- 
mission may  take  place  at  what  time  this  Honorable  Board  may  judge  most  con- 
venient. This  matter  is  submitted  to  your  consideration  by,  Gentlemen,  your  very 
humble  servant,  J.  BLAIR. 

"  April  6,  1769. 

"  The  Board,  taking  into  consideration  the  above  request  of  Mr.  Blair,  do  agree 
to  his  resignation  for  the  reasons  therein  mentioned,  particularly  on  account  of  the 
insufficiency  of  the  College  Funds  for  the  present  support  of  a  Divinity  Professor. 
And  they  consider  this  application  as  a  distinguished  proof  of  his  disinterestedness 
and  public  spirit ;  so  they  look  upon  themselves  as  obliged  to  give  him  the  thanks 
of  the  Board  for  his  services  in  the  College,  of  which  they  will  retain  a  grateful 
sense,  and  to  testify  their  entire  approbation  to  his  whole  conduct,  both  in  the  point 
of  instruction  and  government,  during  his  continuance  in  office.  And  it  is  Resolved, 
That  the  said  Mr.  Blair's  salary  as  Professor  of  Divinity  do  continue  until  the  next 
Commencement.  And  it  is  also  voted,  That  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  be 
allowed  him  over  and  above  the  same,  to  become  payable  at  the  next  Commencement, 
together  with  the  remission  of  the  moneys  which  were  to  have  been  paid  by  him 
into  the  College  Treasury  in  consideration  of  the  relinquishment  of  his  services  as 
a  preacher  to  the  students  for  the  last  half-year ;  which  the  Board  have  considered 
as  a  reasonable  compensation  for  the  difficulties  and  expenses  the  said  Mr.  Blair 
may  be  put  to  upon  so  sudden  a  removal.  And  it  is  further  Resolved,  That  a  former 
vote  of  this  Board  respecting  a  Faculty  to  be  established  in  this  College  be,  for  the 
reasons  above,  wholly  vacated  and  annulled. 

"  The  Board  then  proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  Divinity  Professor  in  the  room 
of  Mr.  Blair  resigned,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  President  of  the  College, 
was  unanimously  chosen ;  and  in  consideration  of  the  additional  services  thereby 
required  of  him  they  added  fifty  pounds  a  year  to  his  salary,  to  begin  on  the  last 
Wednesday  in  September  next,  the  day  of  the  annual  Commencement." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  acquainting  the  Board  "that  from  accounts 
received  from  Boston  near  ;£iooo  proc.  hath  been  subscribed, 
and  part  of  the  same  remitted,  for  the  use  of  this  College,  the 
Board  requested  that  he  would  be  pleased,  by  letters  in  their 
name,  to  return  the  thanks  of  the  Trustees  of  this  College 
to  the  Benefactors  who  have  so  generously  assisted  the  In- 
stitution." 


306        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Of  the  three  gentlemen  elected  Professors  in  1767,  Mr.  Blair 
was  the  only  one  who  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  chair  to 
which  he  was  called.  At  the  time  of  his  appointment  he  was 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Fagg's  Manor,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  principal  of  the  Classical  and  Theological  School 
established  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  his  predeces- 
sor both  in  the  church  and  in  the  school. 

Upon  leaving  Princeton  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Goodwill  or  Wallkill,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  was  a  man  of  eminent  piety,  and  of  a  sound  and  vigorous 
intellect:  a  logician  of  a  high  order.  His  treatises  "On  the 
Nature,  Uses,  and  Subjects  of  the  Sacraments,"  "  On  Regenera- 
tion," and  "  On  the  Nature  and  Uses  of  the  Means  of  Grace," 
exhibit  clear,  discriminating,  and  candid  views  of  these  impor- 
tant topics,  and  as  such  must  commend  themselves  to  the  pious 
and  intelligent  reader,  whether  he  can  or  cannot  assent  to  all 
his  positions. 

Mr.  Blair  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  born  there  in  1720,  and 
died  at  Wallkill,  December  8,  1771. 

His  letter,  given  above,  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of 
noble  and  generous  impulses,  and  entirely  free  from  all  selfish 
aims  and  considerations. 

The  President  moved  "  that  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  him 
from  William  Phillips,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  might  be  inserted  in  the 
minutes."  The  same  was  ordered  to  be  inserted  accordingly, 
and  is  in  the  words  following: 

"My  two  brothers  have  subscribed  .£100  each  (Boston  lawful),  which,  with  my 
subscription,  makes  £$oo,  or  1000  dollars ;  which  I  mention,  as  we  are  desirous  it 
may  be  kept  by  itself,  as  it  may  be  applied  to  some  particular  use  hereafter,  pro- 
vided the  funds  of  the  College  shall  admit  thereof,  and  you  advise  to  such  appro- 
priation. In  that  case  it  may  be  enlarged." 

"  The  Board,  considering  the  Intimation  in  the  above  extract  contained,  desired 
the  President  of  the  College  to  write  to  the  said  Mr.  Phillips,  and  refer  the  appro- 
priation of  money  subscribed  by  himself  and  brothers  to  such  uses  and  purposes  as 
he  or  they  shall  think  fit  to  direct." 

This  generous  gift,  or  rather  the  disposing  of  the  annual  in- 
crease of  the  same,  became  the  occasion  for  a  time  of  a  serious 
discussion  between  a  committee  of  the  Board  and  the  President, 
as^to  the  right  of  the  latter  to  expend  the  income  from  this 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

fund  for  the  benefit  of  the  College,  at  his  discretion.  Contrary 
to  the  judgment  of  the  committee  which  made  a  report  upon 
this  subject,  and  especially  of  the  author  of  the  report,  the 
Board  finally  decided  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  donors 
that  Dr.  Witherspoon  should  have  the  disposal  of  the  income 
from  this  fund. 

"  The  Board  being  informed  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell,  of  Elizabethtown,  had 
taken  a  journey  to  the  eastern  parts  of  Long  Island,  and  had  set  on  foot  a  subscrip- 
tion there,  as  well  as  at  Elizabethown,  for  the  use  of  the  College,"  Mr.  W.  P.  Smith 
(the  Clerk)  "was  desired  to  give  to  Mr.  Caldwell  the  thanks  of  the  Board,  and  to 
request  his  endeavors  to  have  the  money  collected  when  payable,  and  sent  to  him ; 
and  that  he  remit  the  same,  when  received,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  taking 
his  receipt  in  discharge." 

Hoping,  from  information  received,  that  considerable  bene- 
factions would  be  obtained  from  the  friends  of  learning  and  re- 
ligion in  South  Carolina  should  a  personal  application  be  made 
to  them  by  a  duly-authorized  agent,  the  Board  requested  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  of  New  York,  a  member  of  the  Board, 
to  undertake  this  service;  which  he  consented  to  do,  with  the 
understanding  that  provision  should  be  made  for  the  supply  of 
his  pulpit  during  his  absence. 

Other  friends  interested  themselves  in  behalf  of  the  College, 
as  appears  from  the  following  minute  : 

"  The  Board  being  informed  that  several  friends  of  the  College  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  have  set  on  foot  subscriptions  to  increase  the  funds,  do  approve  and 
gratefully  acknowledge  the  measures  taken  by  them  for  this  purpose,  and  do  recom- 
mend the  further  promoting  and  encouragement  of  like  subscriptions." 

Upon  the  examination  of  the  Treasurer's  accounts,  it  appeared 
that  there  was  due  to  the  Treasurer  the  sum  of  .£183.11.6. 
What  was  the  amount  of  the  bonds  held  by  the  College  at  this 
time  does  not  appear  from  the  report  of  the  committee  charged 
with  the  duty  of  making  this  examination. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  Wednesday, 
the  2/th  of  September,  1769.  This  was  the  day  of  the  annual 
Commencement;  and  this  Commencement  is  one  of  note,  from 
the  following  circumstances: 

i.  That  the  class  then  graduated  was  the  first  one  which  had 
had  the  privilege  of  being  under  the  tuition  and  guidance  of 
Dr.  \Vitherspoon. 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

2.  That  not  a  few  of  the  graduates  on  this  occasion  became 
men  of  note  in  their  day;  and  one  of  their  number,  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith,  succeeded  Dr.  Witherspoon  in  the  office  of 
President  of  the  College. 

3.  That  at  this  Commencement  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
was  conferred  upon  two  distinguished  civilians  of  our  country, 
viz.,  John  Dickinson  and  Joseph  Galloway,  Esquires,  of  Phila- 
delphia,— this  being  the  first  time  that  this  degree  was  conferred 
by  the  Trustees  of  this  institution. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Periam,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey 
was  chosen  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy, 
with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds ;  but  he 
declined  the  appointment.  Mr.  Wm.  Churchill  Houston,  the 
Master  of  the  College  grammar-school,  was  then  chosen  a  Tutor 
in  the  room  of  Mr.  Periam.  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Tapping 
Reeve  was  appointed  a  Tutor  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Pemberton, 
resigned. 

The  Rev.  James  Caldwell  was  chosen  a  Trustee  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  William  Kirk- 
patrick  ;  and  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  the  late  Professor  of  Divinity 
and  of  Moral  Philosophy,  was  elected  a  Trustee  in  the  room  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Ronde,  resigned.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell  was 
also  appointed  "  an  agent  of  the  Board  to  solicit  subscriptions 
for  the  benefit  of  the  College  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  the  two 
Carolines,  and  Georgia," — the  Trustees  engaging  to  pay  his 
expenses,  and  also  the  expense  of  supplying  his  pulpit  during 
his  absence. 

Mr.  Caldwell  was  well  received  at  the  South,  and  his  mis- 
sion was  attended  with  happy  results.  The  subscriptions  ob- 
tained by  him  for  the  College  were  estimated  at  not  less  than 
one  thousand  pounds  proc.,  over  and  above  all  expenses.  Some 
of  the  subscriptions  were  in  moneys,  and  others  in  the  pro- 
duce of  the  country.  The  subscriptions  in  Georgia,  for  the 
most  part,  were  to  be  paid  in  produce. 

To  the  payment  of  their  debts,  as  well  as  to  the  soliciting 
of  funds,  the  Board  now  gave  their  attention.  Preceding  the 
record  of  the  matters  just  mentioned  occurs  the  following 
minute,  under  the  date  of  September  28,  1769: 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


309 


"  Whereas  an  order  hath  heretofore  been  made  on  the  Treasurer  for  the  payment 
of  a  certain  Bill  of  Exchange  formerly  drawn  for  the  sum  of  ,£125  sterling  by  Mr. 
Field,  Bookseller,  of  London,  on  Mr.  Jeremiah  Halsey ;  and  as  a  debate  hath 
arisen  relating  to  the  rate  of  Exchange  and  Interest  to  be  allowed  on  said  Bill,  it  was 
now  referred  to  the  Board  to  ascertain  the  same,  which  being  taken  into  considera- 
tion, the  Exchange  was  fixed  as  supposed  to  be  at  or  about  the  Time  of  presenta- 
tion of  said  Bill  at  the  rate  of  72^;  the  sum  therefore  (including  the  Interest,  also 
now  calculated  and  allowed)  was  found  to  amount  to  .£248. 6.  6  proclamation  money 
of  New  Jersey,  which  the  Treasurer  of  this  College  is  hereby  warranted  to  pay  in 
full  discharge  of  said  Bill  of  Exchange." 

The  chief  interest  of  this  extract  is  the  evidence  it  furnishes 
that  the  purchasing  of  books  in  London  for  the  use  of  the 
students,  begun  in  Mr.  Burr's  administration,  was  still  con- 
tinued. 

But  money  matters  were  not  the  only  things  to  which  the 
attention  of  the  Board  was  given,  essential  as  these  were  to  the 
very  being  of  the  College. 

"  The  Board  taking  into  consideration  the  great  want  of  a  Philosophical  Appa- 
ratus, for  the  use  of  the  students  in  this  College  in  Natural  Philosophy,  of  which  it 
has  long  been  destitute,  It  was  now  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Bryan, 
Dr.  Shippen,  Dr.  Redman,  Dr.  Harris,  Mr.  Beatty,  and  Mr.  Caldwell,  or  any  three 
of  them,  be  a  committee  to  consult  and  determine  upon  such  and  so  many  of  the 
instruments  belonging  to  an  Apparatus  as  may  be  judged  by  them  to  be  the  most 
necessary  and  immediately  wanted.  And  the  said  committee  are  empowered  to 
send  their  orders  to  England  for  the  same  as  they  conveniently  can :  Provided  the 
amount  of  the  cost  exceed  not  the  sum  of  ,£250  sterling." 

At  the  next  Commencement,  that  of  1770,  twenty-two  were 
admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  five  graduates  of 
the  College  to  the  second  degree.  Four  gentlemen  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  A.M.,  and  five  others  the  degree  of 
Doctor  in  Divinity.  This  was  the  first  occasion  on  which  this 
degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  by  this  College.  The  gentlemen 
upon  whom  it  was  conferred  were, — 

The  Rev.  Robert  Finley,  of  Glasgow,  in  North  Britain ;  the 
Rev.  John  Gillies,  of  Glasgow,  in  North  Britain ;  the  Rev. 
Archibald  Laidly,  of  New  York;  the  Rev.  George  Muir,  of 
Paisley,  in  North  Britain ;  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  of 
Boston,  New  England. 

Mr.  Pemberton  was  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  under 
the  first  charter,  as  well  as  under  the  one  given  by  (governor 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Belcher.  Having  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  in  New  York, 
and  having  removed  to  Boston  in  1754,  he  vacated  his  seat  at 
the  Board. 

At  this  meeting  of  the  Trustees  provision  was  made  for  the 
sending  of  a  small  vessel  from  Philadelphia  to  Georgia  in  order 
to  receive  such  of  the  promised  benefactions  as  were  to  be 
made  from  the  products  of  the  country. 

Some  misunderstanding  having  arisen  with  respect  to  the 
import  of  a  law  passed  by  the  Board  in  December,  1767,  "for 
ascertaining  the  power  and  authority  of  the  respective  officers 
of  the  College,"  which  officers  at  this  time  were  the  President 
and  the  Tutors, — there  being  no  Professors  or  fully-organized 
Faculty, — the  Trustees  thought  it  proper  to  declare  "  that  the 
President  of  the  College  for  the  time  being  is  invested  with 
the  sole  direction  as  to  the  methods  of  education  to  be  pur- 
sued in  this  Seminary."  The  rule  giving  each  particular  officer 
"the  sole  authority  of  directing  the  times  and  manner  of  the 
recitations"  of  their  respective  classes  was  passed  at  a  time 
when  there  was  no  regular  President,  and  was  designed  for  the 
guidance  of  the  officers  then  in  the  charge  of  the  College. 

In  their  explanatory  minute  of  their  former  action,  the  Trus- 
tees pay  the  following  compliment  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  : 

"  And  the  Trustees  are  the  rather  induced  to  make  the  above  explanation  and 
amendment  of  said  law,  for  that  when  it  was  enacted  the  President  elect  was  resi- 
dent in  Great  Britain,  and  it  was  uncertain  how  long  a  time  might  elapse  before  he 
should  actually  take  the  chair ;  but  now  he  hath  actually  taken  upon  himself  the 
charge  of  the  College,  and  the  Trustees  have  been  so  fully  satisfied  from  experi- 
ence of  his  great  abilities  in  the  management  of  the  Institution  committed  to  hi> 
care,  and  with  high  pleasure  have  seen  his  indefatigable  labors  and  success  in 
raising  the  reputation  of  the  College,  they  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  all  the 
authority  above  declared  to  be  annexed  by  the  said  law  to  the  office  of  President 
of  the  College,  is  highly  proper  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon, the  now  President." 

Further  order  was  taken  in  regard  to  the  investment  of  the 
College  funds,  and  to  the  safe-keeping  of  all  writings,  records, 
and  papers  belonging  to  the  Corporation,  and  with  respect  to 
the  recording  of  the  deeds  in  the  possession  of  the  Board ;  and 
also  in  reference  to  the  management  of  the  library  and  for  the 
preservation  and  increase  of  the  same;  each  student,  and  each 


DR.    WITHERSPOON1  S  ADMINISTRATION.  3!  I 

resident  graduate,  being  required  to  pay  to  the  Steward  of  the 
College  for  the  use  of  the  library  "  eighteen  pence  per  quarter." 

For  various  purposes  the  Steward  of  the  College  appears  to 
have  discharged  the  duties  of  a  deputy  treasurer. 

A  legacy  of  fifty  pounds,  from  the  estate  of  the  late  Mr. 
Robert  Walker,  was  paid  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  College  by 
Richard  Walker,  Esq ,  of  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  brother 
of  the  deceased,  to  be  expended  at  the  discretion  of  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Treat  and  Beatty,  two  Trustees  of  the  College,  in  aid- 
ing poor  and  pious  youths  pursuing  their  studies  at  this  Col- 
lege with  the  design  of  entering  the  ministry. 

Information  being  received  of  the  decease  of  the  Honorable 
Wm.  Smith,  of  New  York,  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Halsey  is  chosen 
to  supply  his  place  at  the  Board. 

In  the  summer  of  1770,  and  again  in  1772,  there  was  mani- 
fest among  the  students  an  unusual  interest  in  the  subject  of 
religion  and  of  personal  piety,  of  which  further  mention  will  be 
made  in  the  memoir  of  Dr.  Witherspoon. 

The  Tutors,  Messrs.  Thompson  and  Reeve,  having  resigned, 
Messrs.  Richard  Devens  and  Samuel  S.  Smith  were  chosen  to 
fill  their  places. 

The  following  minute  shows  that  the  Trustees  still  continued 
to  recognize  their  close  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  : 

"  Resolved,  That  Mr.  Caldwell  be  desired,  in  the  name  of  the  Board,  to  transmit 
letters  to  the  several  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia who  have  set  forward  subscriptions  in  their  respective  bounds  for  the 
benefit  of  this  College,  praying  their  care  and  diligence  to  collect  or  take  proper 
securities  for  the  moneys  subscribed,  and  that  they  be  pleased  to  direct  that  exact 
accounts  of  the  same  be  brought  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod,  and  that  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Mr.  Treat,  and  Mr.  Bryan  be  a  committee  to  settle  with 
the  Presbyteries." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  desired  to  return  the  thanks  of  the 
Board,  by  letter,  to  such  gentlemen  as  were  known  to  be  most 
active  and  zealous  in  obtaining  the  late  subscriptions.  This  col- 
lection of  funds  for  the  College  was  the  result  of  the  action  by 
the  Synod  the  year  previous.* 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of 

*  See  Minutes  of  the  Synod,  pages  396  and  397. 


312        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

applying  to  the  Council  of  Proprietors  at  Perth  Amboy  for  a 
grant  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  for  the  use  of  the  institu- 
tion, with  power  to  make  such  application,  if  judged  advisable. 
Upon  conference,  and  probably  after  some  inquiry,  the  'com- 
mittee deemed  it  inexpedient  to  pursue  the  matter,  and  so  re- 
ported to  the  Board. 

A  new  agreement  was  entered  into  with  the  Steward,  ac- 
cording to  which  each  student  was  required  to  pay  in  advance, 
for  commons,  the  sum  of  ,£7.10  every  half-year,  which  sum  for 
twenty-one  weeks,  a  half-year,  exclusive  of  the  vacation,  was  at 
the  rate  otj.i^s.proc.,  or  95T58~  cents,  a  week ;  and  it  was  further 
ordered,  that  all  College  charges  should  be  paid  half-yearly,  in 
advance.  It  was  afterwards  ordered,  that  in  case  three  students 
were  lodged  in  the  same  room,  they  should  pay  in  all  only  five 
pounds  a  year  rent. 

At  the  Commencement  of  1771  there  were  but  twelve  grad- 
uates; but  of  these  several  attained  great  eminence,  and  one  of 
them,  James  Madison,  became  the  fourth  President  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  account  of  the  competition  of  the  students  on  the  24th  of  September, 
1771,  the  day  preceding  the  annual  Commencement  of  the  College,  it  is  stated,  in 
the  "  Pennsylvania  Chronicle,"  thai  premiums  were  awarded  in  reading  the  Eng- 
lish language  with  propriety,  and  in  Orthography, — I.  To  Aaron  Burr,  of  the  Junior 
class;  2.  To  W.  Linn,  of  the  Junior  class;  and,  3.  To  Belcher  P.  Smith,  of  the 
Sophomore  class.  In  extempore  exercises  in  Latin,  to  H.  Brockholst  Livingston 
and  David  Witherspoon,  both  of  the  Freshman  class,  equally.  In  reading  the 
Latin  and  Greek  Languages  with  proper  quantity, —  I.  To  John  Witherspoon,  of  the 
Sophomore  class;  2.  To  Aaron  Burr;  3.  To  Henry  Lee,  of  the  Sophomore  class. 
For  the  translation  of  English  into  Latin,  to  Henry  Lee. 

In  public  speaking  the  competitors  were  numerous,  and  it  was  very  difficult  to 
decide  the  pre-eminence;  but  the  majority  of  the  votes  gave  the  premiums, —  I.  To 
W.  Bradford,  of  the  Freshman  class ;  2.  To  W.  Linn ;  3.  To  Hugh  Hodge,  of  the 
Freshman  class. 

The  exercises  on  the  25th  of  September  were  as  follows : 

1.  The  Latin  Salutatory,  "  De  societate  hominum,"  by  Mr.  Brackenridge. 

2.  The  proposition,  "  Mendacium  est  semper  illicitum,"  was  defended  by  Mr. 
Williamson,  and  opposed  in  a  syllogistic  way  by  Messrs.  McKnight  and  Taylor. 

3.  "  Moral  qualities  are  confessedly  more  excellent  than  natural ;  yet  the  latter 
are  much  more  envied  in  the  possessor  by  the  generality  of  mankind ;  a  sure  sign 
of  the  corrupt  bias  of  human  nature,"  was  supported  by  Mr.  Black,  and  opposed 
by  Mr.  Cheeseman,  and  answered  by  Mr.  Taylor. 

4.  An  Oration  on  "  The  advantages  of  an  active  life,"  by  Mr.  Campbell. 


DR.    WITHERSPOOWS  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  business  of  the  forenoon  concluded  with  an  anthem. 

5.  At  three  o'clock. — An  Oration  on  "  The  Idea  of  a  Patriot  King,"  by  Mr. 
Spring. 

6.  An  English  forensic  dispute  on  this  question  :  "  Does  Ancient  Poetry  excel  the 
Modern  ?"   Mr.  Freneau,  the  Respondent,  being  necessarily  absent,  his  arguments, 
in  favor  of  the  Ancients,  were  read.     Mr.  Williamson  answered  him,  and  Mr. 
McKnight  replied. 

7.  A  Poem  on  "  The  Rising  Glory  of  America,"  by  Mr.  Brackenridge,  was 
received  with  great  applause  by  the  audience. 

8.  An  Oration  on  "  The  Power  of  Eloquence,"  by  Mr.  Ross. 

The  students  sung  an  anthem,  and  twelve  members  of  the  Senior  class  were 
admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  six  Alumni  of  the  College  proceeded 
Masters  of  Arts. 

9.  A  pathetic  Valedictory  Oration  on  Benevolence  was   pronounced   by    Mr. 
Bedford. 

Mr.  James  Madison  was  excused  from  taking  any  part  in  the  exercises. 

The  most  important  measure  adopted  by  the  Board  at  this 
time  was  the  establishing  of  the  Professorship  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Hous- 
ton, the  senior  Tutor,  as  the  incumbent.  The  minute  relating 
to  this  subject  is  as  follows  : 

"  Pursuant  to  a  Plan  heretofore  concerted,  for  the  establishment  of  Professorships 
in  various  branches  of  learning  in  this  College,  as  soon  as  funds  should  be  found  to 
admit  of  their  support,  the  Trustees  resumed  the  consideration  of  that  measure ;  and 
conceiving  it  to  be  expedient  that  a  Mathematical  Professor,  as  most  immediately 
requisite,  be  now  chosen  in  the  place  of  one  of  the  Tutors,  proceeded  to  the  election 
of  a  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  when  William  Ch.  Houston, 
M.A.,  now  Senior  Tutor  in  the  College,  was  declared  to  be  unanimously  elected  to 
that  office.  It  was  then  resolved  that  for  the  present  the  salary  of  the  said  Mr. 
Houston,  as  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  be  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  proc.,  and  that  the  Board  will  hereafter  provide  for 
his  better  support,  as  their  funds  will  admit  and  the  future  situation  of  the  said 
Professor  shall  reasonably  require,  as  it  is  intended  by  this  Board  that  the  said  Pro- 
fessorship shall  be  permanent  in  this  College  for  the  future." 

In  adopting  the  first  part  of  this  minute  the  Trustees  seem 
to  have  forgotten  their  action  at  the  time  of  the  Rev.  Professor 
Blair's  resignation,  when  they  resolved,  "  That  a  former  vote  of 
this  Board  respecting  a  Faculty  to  be  established  in  this  College 
be,  for  the  reasons  above,  wholly  vacated  and  annulled." 

Mr.  Houston  accepted  the  appointment,  and  for  twelve  years 
discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  with  great  fidelity  and  suc- 
cess, and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  Trustees,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  resigned,  to  enter  upon  the  practice  of  the  law. 

VOL,  I. — 21 


314        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Professor  Houston  was  a  native  of  North  or  South  Carolina, 
and  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1768.  While 
yet  a  student,  he  had  charge  of  the  grammar-school  under 
the  control  of  the  President  of  the  College.  In  1769  he 
was  chosen  a  Tutor,  and  in  1771,  as  above  mentioned,  he  was 
elected  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1780,  and  he  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Convention  to  prepare  a  Constitution 
for  the  United  States.  But  ill  health  prevented  his  taking  a 
seat  in  this  body.  He  died  at  Frankford,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1788,  before  the  completion  of  his  forty-third  year;  yet  he  had 
'the  reputation  of  being  a  scholar,  a  teacher,  a  lawyer,  and  a 
statesman  of  much  more  than  ordinary  ability. 

A  committee  was  appointed  "  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  College  funds,  to 
take  an  exact  list  of  all  bonds,  notes,  &c.,  now  in  the  Treasurer's  hands,  an  ac- 
count of  all  interest'  due,  and  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  securities.  And  the 
said  Committee  are  empowered  to  direct  the  immediate  prosecution  of  all  such 
bonds,  notes,  &c.,  as  they  may  judge  to  be  in  precarious  circumstances.  The  Com- 
mittee is  also  desired  to  make  out  as  precise  an  account  as  possible  of  all  the  Dona- 
tions, Benefactions,  and  Subscriptions  made  or  received  since  the  arrival  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  in  addition  to  the  then  Funds  of  the  College,  together  with  an  ac- 
count of  all  moneys  disbursed ;  distinguishing  on  what  particular  accounts,  and 
what  sums  in  each  account  respectively;  and  make  report  of  the  whole  at  the  next 
meeting." 

There  is  no  record  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  any  report 
from  this  committee.  A  special  meeting  of  the  Board  was 
held  on  the  nth  of  March,  1772. 

In  consequence  of  representations  made  to  the  Board  that  there  was  "  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  collecting  a  considerable  sum  for  the  use  of  this  College,  in  the  West  Indies, 
the  Trustees  requested  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  engage  in  this  service,  and  provision 
was  made  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  agency.  Dr.  Witherspoon  consenting  to 
undertake  this  labor,  the  Rev.  Elihu  Spencer,  one  of  the  Trustees,  was  chosen  to 
act  as  Vice-President  during  Dr.  Witherspoon's  absence. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  informed  the  Board  that  his  son,  Mr.  James  Witherspoon, 
proposed  going  to  Barbadoes,  and  generously  offered  his  service  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Institution.  The  Board  therefore  cheerfully  agree  to  make  out  a  commission 
for  Mr.  Witherspoon,  enabling  him  to  receive  such  benefactions  as  he  may  have 
the  opportunity  of  obtaining  either  in  Barbadoes,  Antigua,  or  any  other  of  the  Wes1 
India  Islands." 

The  Board,  taking  into  consideration  the  encouraging  prospects  of  obtaining 
benefactions  in  Barbadoes  and  other  of  the  Windward  Islands,  think  proper  to  send 
an  agent  more  expressly  for  said  purpose,  and  desire  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty  to 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


315 


undertake  the  service  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Witherspoon,  or  otherwise,  as  may 
appear  most  advantageous  to  the  general  design.  The  summing  up  of  this  prom- 
ising effort  is  to  be  found  in  the  following  minute  of  the  Board,  under  the  dale  of 
September  30,  1772:  "Dr.  Witherspoon  did  not  undertake  the  tour  to  the  West 
Indies,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the  Board  last  Spring,  for  very  sufficient 
reasons  which  occurred  after  the  meeting.  Mr.  Beatty,  according  to  appointment, 
went  to  Barbadoes,  where  he  died  on  the  ijth  of  August,  before  he  made  any  col- 
lections for  the  College." 

Upon  learning  that  Mr.  Edward  Ireland,  of  Barbadoes,  had  shown  particular  kind- 
ness to  Mr.  Beatty,  it  was  ordered,  "  That  Mr.  WT.  P.  Smith,  the  Clerk,  write  to  Mr. 
Irelandja  letter  of  thanks  in  the  name  of  the  Board." 

Within  ten  days  after  consenting  to  visit  the  West  Indies, 
and  doubtless  to  prepare  the  way  for  his  solicitation  of  benefac- 
tions, Dr.  Witherspoon  penned  an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Jamaica  and  other  West  India  Islands  in  behalf  of  the  College, 
in  which  he  gave  a  succinct  account  of  the  origin  and  design 
of  the  College,  and  of  the  facilities  it  offered  to  the  people  of 
the  West  Indies  for  the  education  of  their  children.* 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Beatty,  the  Board,  not  being  prepared 
to  appoint  another  agent  for  this  mission  to  the  West  Indies, 
referred  the  further  prosecution  of  it  to  the  judgment  of  a 
large  committee,  of  which  the  President  of  the  College  was 
made  the  chairman  ;  and  here  the  matter  ended. 

"  The  Board  being  informed  that  some  persons  in  the  County 
of  Essex  refused  to  pay  their  subscriptions  to  the  College,  Mr. 
[W.  P.]  Smith  was  desired  to  prosecute  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Board,  if  they  refuse  upon  further  application  to  them." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  and  Mr.  Halsey  were  appointed  a  committee  to  arrange  mat- 
ters for  the  drawing  of  a  Lottery  at  New  Castle,  Delaware,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Col- 
lege ;  and  a  bond  was  ordered  to  be  given  to  George  Monroe  and  others,  "  in  the 
penalty  of  fifty  thousand  pounds  proclamation  money,  with  condition  to  indemnify 
them  from  all  damages,  costs,  and  charges  which  they  may  sustain  by  reason  of 
their  becoming  managers  of  the  Lottery." 

Elias  Boudinot,  Esq.,  was  chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the  room  of 
John  Berrien,  Esq.,  deceased. 

It  was  ordered,  "  That  fifty  pounds  proc.  should  be  paid  to  Mr.  Halsey  for  his 
services  in  the  management  of  a  previous  lottery." 

*  This  address  is  to  be  found  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  works,  published  in 
1801,  by  W.  W.  Woodward,  of  Philadelphia. 


316        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Mr.  Halsey,  having  been  requested  to  collect  the  deeds  be- 
longing to  the  College,  laid  before  the  Board  a  number  of  deeds, 
one  of  which  was  a  deed  from  Nathaniel  Fitz  Randolph  for  the 
lot  on  which  the  College  stands,  and  another  was  a  deed  from 
Thomas  Leonard  for  a  burying-gronnd. 

From  a  perusal  of  the  minutes  of  the  Board,  it  would  seem 
that  from  the  accession  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  the  presidency 
until  the  present  time  the  attention  of  both  President  and  Trus- 
tees had  been  directed  almost  exclusively  to  the  property  of 
the  College,  and  to  the  increase  of  its  resources ;  "but  this  was 
far  from  being  the  case.  We  do  not,  indeed,  find  any  detailed 
reports  of  the  course  of  instruction,  yet  occasionally  in  these 
minutes  we  get  a  glimpse  of  what  the  President  and  Tutors 
were  doing,  and  of  the  encouragement  which  they  received 
from  the  Trustees ;  and  we  are  assured  from  the  success  attend- 
ing their  teachings,  and  from  the  eminence  attained  by  many  of 
their  pupils,  both  in  the  Church  and  in  the  State,  that  the  in- 
struction was  most  ably  and  efficiently  conducted. 

Among  the  minutes  of  the  Board  at  this  date,  September, 
1772,  is  the  following  : 

"  Teaching  Hebrew  being  considered  by  the  Board  of  great  importance,  especially 
to  those  who  intend  to  study  Divinity,  Mr.  Devens,  one  of  the  present  Tutors  in 
the  College,  is  appointed  to  instruct  those  in  Hebrew  who  offer  themselves  for  that 
purpose.  And  although  the  Board  do  not  enjoin  it  upon  all,  as  a  part  of  College 
study  necessary  for  a  degree,  yet  they  direct  the  President  earnestly  to  recommend 
the  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  and  to  take  such  methods  as  he  judges  most  convenient 
to  engage  the  students  to  learn  as  far  as  necessary." 

The  passage  of  this  resolution  at  this  time  probably  led  Dr. 
Green  to  think  that  the  introduction  of  Hebrew  as  a  College 
study  was  due  to  Dr.  Witherspoon. 

Candidates  for  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  were  required  to 
submit  their  speeches  to  the  President  for  correction  and  ap- 
proval at  least  four  weeks  before  the  Commencement;  and  it 
was  resolved  the  next  year  that  any  candidate  who  should 
neglect  to  comply  with  this  order  should  be  denied  his  degree. 

Mr.  Devens,  a  Tutor,  having  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health, 
Mr.  James  Grier  was  chosen  to  supply  his  place. 

The  custom,  which  continues  to  the  present  time,  was  now 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION.  317 

introduced  of  appointing  a  committee  of  the  Trustees  to  attend 
the  final  examinations  of  the  students  for  their  degrees. 

With  one  exception,  the  Senior  class  of  1773  was  the  largest 
class  graduated  at  this  College  during  the  presidency  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon.  It  contained  twenty-nine  members,  three  of 
whom  became  Governors  of  their  respective  States,  and  three 
others  Presidents  of  three  different  colleges.  The  Governors 
were  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  Morgan  Lewis,  of  New  York, 
and  Aaron  Ogden,  of  New  Jersey.  The  college  Presidents 
were  James  Dunlap,  of  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  John 
McKnight,  of  Dickinson  College,  Pennsylvania,  and  John  Blair 
Smith,  of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia,  and  afterwards 
of  Union  College,  New  York.  The  Commencement  this  year 
(1773)  was  honored  by  the  presence  of  his  Excellency  Governor 
Franklin. 

A  committee,  consisting  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Spencer,  and 
Mr.  Boudinot,  was  appointed  to  procure  a  public  dinner  at  the 
next  Commencement,  and  to  give  invitations  to  such  strangers 
attending  the  exercises  of  that  day  as  they  may  judge  proper. 
The  dinner  was  provided,  and  the  expense  was  ^11.15.  The 
bill  was  ordered  to  be  paid,  but  at  the  same  time  it  was  "  ordered, 
that  there  be  for  the  future  no  public  dinner  at  the  expense  of 
the  Board."  The  dinner  here  spoken  of  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  and  for  some  time  the  only  public  dinner  at  the  expense 
of  the  Board. 

Mr.  S.  S.  Smith  resigns  his  office  of  Tutor,  and  Mr.  Richard 
Devens,  for  a  time  a  colleague,  and  who  had  resigned  on 
account  of  ill  health,  was  now  reappointed,  but  he  continued 
in  office  only  until  the  ensuing  spring. 

The  Clerk  was  directed  to  collect  all  the  by-laws  and  regu- 
lations which  had  been  made  from  time  to  time  and  to  lay  them 
before  the  Board. 

It  appears  from  a  minute  of  this  date,  September,  1773,  that 
a  legacy  had  been  left  to  the  College  by  Mr.  James  King,  of 
Delaware;  but  what  was  the  sum  given,  or  the  purpose  of  the 
bequest,  does  not  appear  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board. 

The  tuition-fees  were  increased  to  five  pounds  a  year. 

A  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  the  ipth  of  April,  1774, 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

at  which  Governor  Franklin,  President  Witherspoon,  and  twelve 
other  Trustees  were  present. 

Among  the  minutes  of  this  meeting  is  the  following  : 

"  And  whereas  it  has  been  represented,  and  upon  inquiry  it  hath  appeared  to 
this  Board,  that  Samuel  Leake,  a  member  of  the  present  Senior  class,  was  not  long 
since  singularly  active  in  encouraging  and  promoting  some  unwarrantable  and  riot- 
ous proceedings  among  the  students,  particularly  in  publickly  burning  the  effigies 
of  his  Excellency  Governor  Hutchinson,  and  also  insulting  an  honourable  member 
of  this  Board  for  endeavouring  in  a  very  becoming  manner  to  prevent  the  said  riot- 
ous proceedings ;  and  the  Board  being  also  informed  that  the  said  Samuel  Leake, 
notwithstanding  his  conduct,  hath  been  appointed  by  the  Faculty  to  the  honour  of 
the  Salutatory  Oration  at  the  ensuing  Commencement,  this  Board  doth  highly  dis- 
approve of  his  designation  to  that  honour,  and  do  hereby  vacate  that  choice,  and 
direct  the  President  of  the  College  to  appoint  another  Orator  in  his  room." 

This  order  of  the  Board  was  as  severe  a  censure  of  the  Fac- 
ulty as  of  Mr.  Leake,  who  appears  to  have  been  the  first  scholar 
in  his  class,  and  who,  on  the  score  of  merit  as  a  scholar,  was 
entitled  to  the  position  assigned  him  by  the  Faculty ;  and  if 
permitted  to  take  any  part  in  the  Commencement  exercises, 
there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  sufficient  reason  why  he  should 
not  have  the  place  of  Salutatory  orator.  Although  the  Presi- 
dent, Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  the  other  members  of  the  Faculty 
could  not  approve  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Leake  and  of  his  com- 
panions on  the  occasion  here  referred  to,  yet  it  is  not  improba- 
ble they  looked  with  a  more  indulgent  eye  upon  the  offences  of 
these  young  men  than  did  a  majority  of  the  Board,  and  that  the 
Faculty  sympathized,  to  some  extent  at  least,  with  their  pupils 
in  their  disapproval  of  sundry  obnoxious  acts  of  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  and  of  the  support  he  gave  to  those  meas- 
•ures  of  the  British  Ministry  which  eventually  drove  the  Colo- 
nies into  rebellion  and  to  establish  a  government  for  themselves 
free  and  altogether  independent  of  the  English  Crown.  Two 
years  later  the  very  men  who  severely  condemned  young  Leake 
were  as  rebellious  against  British  rule  as  he  ever  was,  and  two 
more  earnest  rebels  were  not  to  be  found  than  the  President  of 
the  College  and  the  Trustee  to  whom,  it  is  believed,  reference 
is  made  in  the  minute  cited  above,  and  who  was  a  resident  of 
Princeton.  In  fact,  the  Trustees  were  all  of  them  rebels  and 
supporters  of  the  Confederation. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  Leake  received  from  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  a  written  certificate  of  his  qualifications  to  teach  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Mathematics,  to  which  was  appended  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  I  must  also  add,  that  he  gave  particular  attention  to  the 
English  language  while  here,  and  is  probably  better  acquainted 
with  its  structure,  propriety,  and  force  than  most  of  his  years 
and  standing  in  this  country." 

Mr.  Leake  became  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  an  eminent 
Christian  man,  and  he  died  at  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Tren- 
ton in  the  year  1820. 

His  son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Elijah  Slack,  LL.D.,  was  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  College  and  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy  from  1812  to  1817. 

In  the  summer  following  this  action  of  the  Board  in  reference 
to  Mr.  Leake,  John  Adams,  the  second  President  of  the  United 
States,  visited  Princeton,  and  of  this  visit  President  Adams  has 
left  the  following  account.  It  is  taken  from  his  Life  by  his 
grandson : 

"August  27,  1774.  About  12  o'clock  we  arrived  at  the  tavern  in  Princeton 
which  holds  out  the  sign  of  Hudibras,  near  Nassau  Hall.  The  College  is  a  stone 
building  about  as  large  as  that  at  New  York.  It  stands  upon  rising  ground,  and  so 
commands  a  prospect  of  the  country.  After  dinner  Mr.  Pigeon,  a  student,  son  of 
Mr.  Pigeon,  of  Watertown,  to  whom  we  brought  a  letter,  took  a  walk  with  us,  and 
shewed  us  the  seat  of  Mr.  Stockton,  a  lawyer  of  this  place  and  one  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  College ;  as  we  returned  we  met  Mr.  Euston  [Houston],  professor  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy,  who  kindly  invited  us  to  his  chamber.  We  went. 
The  College  is  conveniently  constructed :  instead  of  entries  across  the  building,  the 
entries  are  from  end  to  end,  and  the  chambers  are  on  each  side  of  the  entries. 
There  are  such  entries  one  above  another  in  every  story ;  each  chamber  has  three 
windows,  two  studies  with  one  window  in  each,  and  one  window  between  the 
studies  to  enlighten  the  chamber. 

"Mr.  Euston  [Houston]  then  shewed  us  the  Library;  it  is  not  large,  but  has 
some  good  books.  He  then  led  us  into  the  Apparatus ;  here  we  saw  a  most  beauti- 
ful machine,*  an  orr"ery  or  planetarium  constructed  by  Mr.  Rittenhouse,  of  Philadel- 
phia. It  exhibits  almost  every  motion  in  the  Astronomical  world :  the  motions  of 
the  sun  and  all  the  planets,  with  all  their  satellites,  the  eclipses  of  the  moon,  sun, 
&c.  He  shewed  us  another  orrery  which  exhibits  the  true  inclination  of  the  orbit 
of  each  of  the  planets  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic.  He  then  shewed  us  the  electri- 

*  For  a  full  description  of  this  machine,  see  vol.  i.  of  the  "  Transactions  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society." 


•32O        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

cal  apparatus,  which  is  the  most  complete  and  elegant  I  have  seen.  He  charged  a 
bottle  and  attempted  an  experiment,  but  the  state  of  the  air  was  not  favorable.  By 
this  time  the  bell  rang  for  prayers :  we  went  into  the  chapel ;  the  President  soon 
came  in,  and  we  attended.  The  scholars  sung  as  badly  as  the  Presbyterians  in  New 
York.  After  prayers  the  President  attended  us  to  the  balcony  of  the  College, 
where  we  had  a  prospect  of  an  horizon  of  about  eighty  miles  in  diameter.  We 
went  into  the  President's  house  and  drank  a  glass  of  wine.  He  is  as  high  a  son  of 
liberty  as  any  man  in  America." 

The  following  important  minute  in  reference  to  the  finances  of 
the  College  was  adopted  : 

"  The  Treasurer's  accounts  being  called  for,  it  appeared  necessary  that  the  state 
of  the  College  funds  should  be  more  carefully  examined  and  adjusted  than  could 
be  done  by  the  Board  during  the  present  session  :  they  do  therefore  appoint  Messrs. 
[W.]  P.  Smith,  Mr.  Livingston,  Mr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Boudinot,  and  Mr.  Caldwell, 
or  any  three  of  them,  a  committee  to  meet  at  Princeton,  on  the  I5th  of  August  next, 
at  5  o'clock  P.M.,  and  as  often  afterwards  as  they  may  judge  necessary,  to  examine, 
adjust,  and  state  the  College  funds,  and  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  conduct  of  the 
Treasurer,  with  respect  to  the  management  of  the  fund  in  his  hands,  and  report 
the  same  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board.  And  for  this  purpose  they  have  power 
to  call  upon  the  Treasurer  for  his  accounts,  and  for  any  bond  and  papers  belonging 
to  the  College  in  his  hands.  And  the  Treasurer  is  ordered  in  the  mean  time  to 
collect  all  the  bonds,  notes,  securities  or  their  vouchers,  the  property  of  the  Trus- 
tees, and  to  do  all  other  things  in  his  power  that  will  enable  the  Committee  to  form 
a  just  estimate  of  the  College  funds." 

The  committee  went  to  work  in  earnest,  and  made  a  very  la- 
borious examination  of  all  matters  connected  with  the  finances 
of  the  College,  and  made  their  report  in  April,  1775,  exhibiting 
the  state  of  the  several  accounts  to  September,  1774.  Although 
not  chairman  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Boudinot  was  the  author 
of  the  report,  as  may  be  inferred  from  what  is  said  in  a  like  re- 
port made  by  him  in  1793.  (For  further  notice  of  these  reports, 
see  Appendix.) 

The  records  for  the  year  1776  are  very  brief.  Wednesday, 
the  25th  of  September,  was  the  day  for  the  annual  Commence- 
ment, and  as  ten  of  the  Trustees,  including  the  Governor  of 
the  State  and  the  President  of  the  College,  were  assembled 
on  that  occasion,  and  as  the  exercises  for  the  day  had  been 
assigned  some  time  before,  it  is  highly  probable  that  these  exer- 
cises were  attended  to  in  the  usual  manner ;  but,  as  there  was  not 
a  quorum  of  the  Board  present,  the  usual  degrees  could  not  be 
conferred  at  this  time.  The  Trustees  who  were  present  agreed 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


321 


to  recommend  that  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  should  be  con- 
ferred upon  the  candidates  for  this  distinction  at  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Board;  and  they  directed  their  Clerk  to  summon  the 
Trustees  to  a  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  third  Wednesday  of 
the  following  November. 

The  following  N.  B.  is  appended  to  the  minutes  for  1776: 

"  The  incursions  of  the  Enemy  into  the  State  and  the  depredations  of  the  armies 
prevented  this  meeting :  and  indeed  all  regular  business  in  the  College  for  two  or 
three  years." 

This  last  remark  shows  what  otherwise  is  apparent  from  an 
inspection  of  the  first  volume  of  the  minutes  of  the  Board,  viz., 
that  the  minutes  for  this  period  were  not  entered  at  once  in  the 
volume,  but  some  few  years  after. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Cooper's  Ferry, 
New  Jersey,  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  May  24,  1777,  Gov- 
ernor Livingston,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  eleven  other  Trustees 
being  present.  The  young  gentlemen,  twenty-seven  in  number, 
who  in  September  last,  1776,  were  not  admitted  to  their  first 
degree  in  the  Arts,  for  the  want  of  a  quorum  of  the  Board, 
now  received  that  honor ;  and  it  was  resolved,  "  That  they  re- 
ceive their  diplomas  as  soon  as  the  confusions  of  the  war  will 
admit  of  it." 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  the  minutes  of  the 
Board  at  this  meeting : 

"  It  was  proposed  for  consideration,  whether  it  will  be  expedient  to  collect  the 
students  of  the  College  and  endeavor  to  proceed  with  their  usual  instruction. 
After  deliberation,  Agreed,  that  if  the  enemy  remove  out  of  this  State,  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon is  desired  to  call  the  students  together  at  Princeton,  and  to  proceed  with  their 
education  in  the  best  manner  he  can,  considering  the  state  of  public  affairs.  And 
if  more  students  can  be  collected  than  the  Doctor  can  instruct  himself,  he  is 
directed  to  obtain  such  assistance  as  may  be  necessary. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Stockton,  and  Mr.  Spencer  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  determine  what  repairs  are  necessary  for  the  convenience  of  the  students,  and  to 
order  them  to  be  made.  But  they  are  directed  to  go  no  further  than  shall  appear 
requisite  to  save  the  building,  and  to  accommodate  those  students  who  may  be 
collected." 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  desired  to  move  the  Congress  to  resolve  that  troops  shall 
not  hereafter  be  quartered  in  the  College." 

The  Trustees,  receiving  information  of  the  decease  of  Jona- 
than Sergeant,  Esq.,  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  appointed  a 


322        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

committee  to  settle  with  Mr.  Sergeant's  executors,  and  to  take 
charge  of  the  College  funds,  and  to  put  them  into  "the  Conti- 
nental loan  office,"  unless  a  more  advantageous  investment  could 
be  made.  Mr.  Sergeant  had  been  Treasurer  from  September 
26,  1750,  and  he  had  also  been  an  active  and  efficient  friend  of 
the  College.  He  was  a  son-in-law  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dick- 
inson, the  first  President.  At  this  meeting,  also,  intelligence 
was  received  of  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  William  Tennent,  of 
Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey,  a  Trustee  named  in  the  charter 
given  by  Governor  Belcher.  As  the  preceding  history  shows, 
Mr.  Tennent  was  several  times  chosen  President  of  the  College 
pro  tempore,  and  discharged  his  duties  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  the  Trustees  and  other  friends  of  the  institution.  He  was 
an  eminently  good  man,  and  an  earnest  and  successful  minister 
of  the  gospel.  The  Rev.  George  Duffield  was  elected  a  Trustee 
in  his  room. 

The  Clerk  was  directed  to  give  Mr.  Brainerd  an  order  upbn 
Dr.  Ewing,  one  of  the  executors  of  the  late  Treasurer,  for  the 
sum  of  thirty  pounds,  two  years'  interest  of  three  hundred 
pounds  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  Corporation,  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  for  the  support  of 
an  Indian  mission,  and  by  that  body  granted  to  Mr.  Brainerd. 

There  were  no  Commencement  exercises  in  1777,  but  the 
members  of  the  Senior  class,  seven  in  number,  were  subse- 
quently admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  and  were  ac- 
counted graduates  for  this  year.  In  an  address  to  the  public 
through  the  newspapers,  Dr.  Witherspoon  states  these  degrees 
were  confirmed  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  ;  and  no  doubt 
this  was  true,  although  the  fact  is  not  mentioned  in  the  min- 
utes of  the  meeting,  which  was  held  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1778.* 
At  this  meeting  Governor  Livingston,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and 
twelve  other  Trustees  were  present.  Three  new  Trustees  were 
chosen.  These  were  the  Rev.  Azel  Roe,  of  Woodbridge,  New 

*  In  the  minutes  for  September  25,  1782,  the  following  occurs:  "Resolved, 
likewise,  that  John  Noel,  Samuel  Vickers,  and  James  Hanna,  alumni  of  the  College, 
who  on  account  of  the  confusions  of  the  war  have  not  received  their  degree  of  B.  A. 
at  the  regular  time,  be  now  admitted  to  it."  And  in  September  28,  1790,  an  order 
was  passed  for  inserting  in  the  catalogue  for  the  year  1777  several  names  which 
had  been  omitted  in  the  printed  catalogue. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON^  S  ADMINISTRATION. 


323 


Jersey,  John  Bayard,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Scudder,  of  New  Jersey. 

It  was  unanimously  "  Resolved,  That  application  be  made  to 
the  Legislature  of  this  State  to  confirm  the  Charter,"  to  reduce 
the  number  requisite  for  a  quorum,  and  to  make  such  other 
alterations  as  the  late  revolution  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
country  may  render  necessary.  And  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  make  a  draft  of  a  charter  as  conformable  as  possible 
to  the  existing  one,  excepting  the  alterations  just  indicated. 

Mr.  Joshua  M.  Wallace,  Jr.,  was  chosen  Treasurer  of  the 
College,  but  he  never  took  upon  himself  the  duties  of  the 
office;  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board,  April  21,  1779,  Wm. 
Churchill  Houston,  Esq.,  was  chosen  Treasurer,  and  for  some 
years  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  office  as  well  as  those  of 
his  Professorship.  Some  years  after  Mr.  Wallace  was  chosen  a 
Trustee  of  the  College. 

It  was  "  agreed  to  present  a  petition  to  the  Council,  and 
another  to  the  Assembly  [of  the  State],  requesting  them  to 
enact  a  law  to  exempt  the  masters  and  students  of  the  College 
from  military  duty ;  and  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  and  to  present  these  petitions  on  behalf  of  the  Board."  These 
petitions  were  eventually  granted  by  the  Legislature. 

It  was  also  "  Resolved,  That  an  attempt  shall  be  made  to  re- 
vive the  College  studies,  so  long  interrupted  by  the  war;"  and 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  desired  to  publish  in  the  New  Jersey,  Lan- 
caster, and  Fishkill  papers  that  due  attention  will  be  given  the 
instruction  of  youth  in  the  College  after  the  loth  of  May  next. 

It  was  ordered,  "  That  Mr.  Halsey  prepare  a  just  statement 
of  the  accounts  of  the  last  College  Lottery,  and  lay  them  be- 
fore the  Board  at  their  next  meeting." 

There  is  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  no  record  of  any 
meeting  of  the  Trustees  at  the  regular  time  for  the  annual  Com- 
mencement, but  from  an  account  of  the  proceedings  published 
in  the  "  New  Jersey  Gazette"  of  October  21,  1778,  it  appears  that 
the  Commencement  exercises  took  place  at  Princeton,  on  Wed- 
nesday, the  3Oth  of  September,  and  that  the  first  degree  in  the 
Arts  was  conferred  upon  five  members  of  the  Senior  class, 
three  of  whom  took  part  in  the  exercises.  Orations  were  also 


•524        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

pronounced  by  two  of  the  candidates  for  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Princeton,  on 
Wednesday,  the  2ist  of  April,  1779.  The  embarrassed  condi- 
tion of  the  finances  very  naturally  demanded  and  received  the 
first  attention  of  the  Board,  and  measures  were  taken  to  secure 
the  moneys  due  to  the  College,  and  for  the  soliciting  of  pecuni- 
ary aid  in  Pennsylvania  and  in  New  England.  It  was  also  found 
necessary  to  make  further  repairs  to  the  College  edifice,  which 
had  been  much  injured  during  the  time  it  was  occupied  by  the 
troops;  and  the  resolutions  adopted  respecting  the  extent  to 
which  the  repairs  should  be  made  show  both  the  injury  which 
had  been  done  to  the  building  and  the  low  state  of  the  College 
funds.  The  Trustees  had  petitioned  Congress  for  a  remuneration 
of  their  losses,  and  they  seem  to  have  had  some  hope  that  their 
claim  would  be  allowed  and  paid.  The  sum  actually  received 
was  very  small  as  compared  with  the  damage  done  by  the 
American  soldiery. 

William  Livingston,  Esq.,  having  been  chosen  Governor  of 
the  State,  and  thereby  the  President  of  the  Board,  Jonathan 
Bayard  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  was  chosen  a  Trustee  in 
his  room. 

The  following  minute  shows  that  the  Trustees  were  desirous 
to  deal  liberally  with  the  officers  of  the  College  : 

"  Agreed,  That  notwithstanding  the  interruption  of  the  College  exercises  by  the 
war,  their  salaries  shall  be  continued  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  and  Professor  Houston. 
They  are,  however,  to  give  as  much  attention  to  the  instruction  of  such  youth  as  may 
be  sent  to  the  College  as  their  circumstances  and  those  of  the  place  will  admit,  till 
the  building  shall  be  repaired,  and  the  state  of  public  affairs  will  afford  an  oppor- 
tunity to  conduct  the  education  in  the  College  in  a  more  complete  manner." 

In  September  of  this  year  the  Commencement  took  place  as 
usual,  and  six  of  the  students  were  admitted  to  their  first  de- 
gree in  the  Arts.  They  all  became  men  of  more  or  less  note ; 
the  most  distinguished  of  them  being  the  Hon.  Richard  Stock- 
ton, LL.D.,  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

Dr.  Moses  Scott,  of  New  Brunswick,  appointed  an  agent 
to  make  collections  for  the  College  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, reported  that  he  had  collected,  exclusive  of  his  expenses, 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


325 


the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds,  which  he  had  paid 
to  Dr.  Witherspoon. 

The  most  important  measure  taken  by  the  Board  at  this  time, 
September  29,  1779,  was  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
S.  Smith  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy.  This  appointment 
was  made  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Witherspoon ;  and  the 
minute  respecting  it  is  evidence  that  the  proposal  was  highly 
acceptable  to  the  Trustees.  The  Professor  elect  was  then  at  the 
head  of  an  academy,  subsequently  chartered  under  the  name 
of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Prince-  Edward  County,  Virginia. 
He  came  to  Princeton,  and  began  his  duties  here  on  the  I2th 
of  December,  1779. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  offered  to  relinquish  one-half  of  his  salary 
of  four  hundred  pounds  a  year,  provided  the  Board  would  make 
the  proposed  appointment,  and  would  allow  the  tuition-money 
of  the  students  for  the  ensuing  year  to  himself,  Professor  Hous- 
ton, and  the  Professor  to  be  elected ;  this  to  be  done  with  the 
understanding  that  if  they  required  the  assistance  of  a  Tutor  in 
the  instruction  of  the  students  they  were  to  pay  him. 

Before  Professor  Smith's  arrival,  notice  was  given  in  the 
public  papers  by  President  Witherspoon  and  Professor  Houston 
that  the  vacation  of  the  College  would  end  on  Monday,  the  8th 
of  November,  and  that  of  the  grammar-school  on  the  27th  of 
October.  The  latter  part  of  the  advertisement  is  as  follows  : 

"  As  there  is  a  universal  complaint  of  the  want  of  opportunities  of  educating 
youth  among  us  at  present,  it  is  proper  to  inform  the  public,  that  agreeably  to  former 
advertisements,  the  instruction  in  this  School  and  College  has  been  regularly  car- 
ried on  since  the  enemy  left  the  State.  The  Grammar  School  is  numerous  and 
flourishing,  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  filling  the  College  are  now  in  a  great 
measure  removed.  The  repairs  of  the  building  are  in  great  forwardness,  and  will 
go  on  without  interruption,  so  that  there  will  be  comfortable  accommodations  for  as 
many  as  may  probably  attend  this  fall.  Tho'  the  number  of  under-graduates  or 
proper  College  members  did  not  exceed  ten,  yet  one  or  other  of  the  subscribers 
was  constantly  upon  the  spot.  Now  another  Professor  is  chosen,  and  a  tutor  en- 
gaged, so  that  parents  and  guardians  may  depend  upon  the  utmost  care  being  taken 
of  the  youth.  Boarding  may  be  had  at  the  same  price  as  formerly,  making  allow- 
ance for  the  state  of  the  currency. 

"  The  French  language  is  taught,  and  great  attention  paid  to  every  branch  of 
English  Education. 

"  Signed,  JOHN  WITHERSPOON, 

Wn.  CH.  HOUSTON." 


•526        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

The  above  is  taken  from  the  "  New  Jersey  Gazette"  of  the 
date  of  October  13,  1779,  published  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

Four  or  five  months  after,  viz.,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1780, 
Dr.  Witherspoon  prepared  an  address  to  the  public,  giving  some 
information  respecting  the  College  and  the  grammar-school, 
which  were,  to  use  his  own  words,  "beginning  to  recover  from 
the  desolations  they  have  suffered  in  consequence  of  the  war, 
as  the  scholars  are 'collected  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the 
continent,  and  even  the  West  Indies."  His  main  object,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  to  give  some  good  advice  to  the 
teachers  and  parents  of  youth  who  were  preparing  to  enter 
college.  ("  New  Jersey  Gazette"  for  March  15,  1780.) 

At  the  Commencement  held  on  Wednesday,  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1780,  the  Trustees  had  a  meeting  as  usual  on  such 
occasions,  and  conferred  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts  upon  six 
candidates  for  this  honor.  At  this  and  at  the  preceding  Com- 
mencement premiums  were  awarded  to  the  successful  compet- 
itors for  them  in  the  matters  of  grammar,  syntax,  etc.,  of  the 
Latin  and  English  languages. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  reported  to  the  Board  "  that  the  Legislature 
have  passed  an  act  confirming  the  charter  of  the  College,  but 
have  not  thought  proper  to  lessen  the  quorum." 

"  The  Rev.  Robert  Smith  reported  that  himself  and  others  had  taken  some  pains 
in  Pennsylvania  to  make  collections  of  money  for  the  College ;  and  he  delivered  to 
the  Board  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  pounds  ten  shillings,  which  were  collected  in 
the  Forks  of  the  Brandywine,  and  paid  to  Dr.  Witherspoon." 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  proposed,  that  if  the  Board  would  continue  the  salary  of  four 
hundred  pounds  to  himself  and  Professor  Smith,  with  the  tuition-money,  they  would 
procure  a  sufficient  number  of  tutors  to  carry  on  the  instruction  of  the  College  with- 
out any  further  expense  to  this  Board." 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  do  agree  to  the  above  proposal." 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  directed  to  state  an  account  against  the  public  for  the  rents 
of  the  College  while  it  was  used  by  their  agents  as  a  barracks  and  hospital,  and  to 
endeavor  to  recover  the  money  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  Mr.  Halsey  was  desired  to  settle  the  accounts  of  the  last  College  Lottery  speedily ; 
and  in  the  first  place  to  call  in  and  pay  out  all  debts  due  to  or  from  the  Lottery,  par- 
ticularly to  discharge  the  debt  due  to  Mr.  Geddes,  and  then  to  lay  the  whole  of  the 
accounts  before  Mr.  Boudinot,  who  was  empowered  to  settle  with  him  on  behalf  of 
the  Board." 

The  Mr.  Geddes  here  named  had  drawn  a  prize  of  several 
hundred  pounds  in  the  last  lottery,  the  payment  of  which  was 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


327 


deferred  for  some  years,  owing  no  doubt,  in  a  great  measure,  to 
the  failure  to  raise  funds  at  this  time  through  the  lottery.  The 
settlement  of  Mr.  Geddes's  claim  gave  the  Board  much  trouble. 
One  happy  result  of  this  was,  that  no  further  effort  was  made 
for  thirty  years  to  obtain  authority  to  draw  another  lottery  for 
the  benefit  of  the  College,  and,  more  happily  still,  the  only  other 
endeavor  to  obtain  permission  to  draw  one  was  unsuccessful. 
This  last  application  for  a  lottery  was  made  in  1813  or  1814, 
and  was  denied ;  but  not  from  any  scruple  of  conscience  on  the 
part  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  for  while  they  refused 
permission  to  the  College  of  New  Jersey  they  allowed  the 
Trustees  of  Queen's  College,  now  Rutgers,  to  raise  by  lottery 
for  the  resuscitation  of  that  institution  some  twenty  or  thirty 
thousand  dollars. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  the  3Oth  of  May, 
1781,  and  in  the  mean  time  three  of  the  Trustees  had  died. 
These  were  the  Hon.  Richard  Stockton,  the  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Halsey,  and  the  Rev.  John  Brainerd ;  and  in  their  room  the 
Board  elected  his  Excellency  Joseph  Reed,  Esq.,  President  of 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McWhorter, 
who  had  returned  to  Newark  from  the  South,  and  the  Rev. 
James  Boyd. 

The  Board  continued  their  sessions  to  next  day.  "  The  Rev. 
James  Caldwell  laid  before  the  Board  his  account  current  with 
the  corporation,  containing  an  account  of  the  moneys  received 
and  paid  by  him  as  one  of  the  committee  for  managing  the 
treasury  since  May  26,  1777."  This  account  was  referred  to 
the  committee  for  collecting  and  stating  an  account  of  the  funds. 
It  is  evident  that  Mr.  Caldwell,  who  had  taken  an  active  part 
in  soliciting  funds  for  the  College,  and  who  at  this  time  was  the 
Clerk  of  the  Board,  had  the  principal  share  of  the  labor  assigned 
to  the  committee  charged  with  the  duties  of  the  Treasurer.  It 
is  also  evident,  from  the  arrangement  made  with  the  President 
and  the  Professors  of  the  College  with  respect  to  the  tuition- 
fees,  that  the  income  of  the  College  from  this  source  was  al- 
together inadequate  to  the  support  of  the  President  and  Pro- 
fessors,—  their  salaries  amounting  to  six  hundred  pounds  a 
year.  And  two-thirds  of  this  sum,  if  not  the  whole  of  the  six 


328        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  J ERSE  I. 

hundred  pounds,  were  payable  in  coin,  and  not  in  the  currency 
of  that  time,  as  appears  from  the  following  minute : 

"  In  the  agreement  made  with  Dr.  Witherspoon  last  September,  the  minutes  do 
not  express  in  what  kind  of  money  he  was  to  be  paid ;  it  is  therefore  now  agreed, 
in  the  presence  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  that  he  is  to  receive  his  salary  in  gold  and  silver, 
and  not  in  current  paper  money  of  a  depreciated  value,  which  he  has  voluntarily 
agreed  to  receive  his  salary  in  for  the  two  years  preceding." 

Hence,  in  view  of  the  funds  requisite  to  pay  the  salaries  of 
the  officers  of  the  College,  to  meet  the  incidental  expenses,  and 
to  make  the  extensive  repairs  which  were  necessary  to  render 
the  College  edifice  fit  for  the  purposes  of  its  erection,  it  must 
be  obvious  that  there  was  need  of  large  pecuniary  assistance 
from  the  friends  of  the  institution  to  meet  all  the  yearly  expenses 
and  sustain  the  high  standing  and  character  which  the  College 
had  attained  as  a  place  for  the  education  of  youth.  Funds  were 
solicited  and  liberally  given ;  not  for  a  permanent  endowment, 
but  for  the  meeting  of  pressing  wants  and  immediate  liabili- 
ties; and  by  means  of  these  generous  gifts  the  Trustees  were 
enabled  to  maintain  a  Faculty  composed  of  able  men  and  of 
accomplished  instructors  equal  to  any  in  the  land. 

At  this  time  "a  proposal  was  laid  before  the  Board,  signed  by  William  C.  Houston 
and  Samuel  S.  Smith,  for  conferring  both  the  higher  and  the  intermediate  degrees 
in  Theology  and  Law,  in  some  method  similar  to  those  practised  by  the  Universities 
in  Europe,  together  with  a  draught  of  a  plan  for  that  purpose." 

It  was  read,  and  the  consideration  of  it  deferred.  At  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Board  it  was  referred  to  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Governor  Livingston,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Boudinot, 
and  Mr.  Spencer,  to  consider  and  report  thereon.  The  com- 
mittee appear  to  have  made  a  favorable  report,  but  what  were 
its  peculiar  features  is  not  known,  as  the  plan  is  not  given  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Board.* 

From  the  beginning,  one  of  the  Trustees  had  been  chosen 
Clerk  of  the  Board  whenever  a  vacancy  occurred  in  that  office. 

*  At  the  meeting  held  September  25,  1787,  the  Board  adopted  the  following  reso- 
lution :  "  That  no  person  be  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity  or  Doctor 
of  Laws  unless  with  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present."  But  this 
resolution,  as  inconsistent  with  the  charter,  was  repealed  in  1794. 


DR.   WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

But  at  this  meeting  a  motion  was  made  to  choose  a  Clerk  who 
should  not  be  one  of  the  Board ;  "  many  inconveniences  having 
arisen  from  one  of  the  members  officiating  in  that  department, 
the  same  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Smith  was 
unanimously  chosen  to  that  office." 

The  selecting  of  a  member  of  the  Faculty  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  Clerk  to  the  Board  was  continued  until  the  year  1823, 
when  the  Trustees  resolved  to  make  another  change,  and  they 
chose  one  of  their  own  number,  then  a  resident  of  Princeton, 
their  Clerk.  Since  that  time  the  Clerks  of  the  Board  have  been 
selected  from  the  body  of  the  Trustees. 

It  was  resolved  to  petition  the  Legislature  again  for  an  alter- 
ation in  the  charter,  by  which  the  number  requisite  for  a  quo- 
rum should  be  lessened,  and  also  to  ask  the  General  Assembly 
"  to  prevent  the  quartering  of  troops  in  the  College,  which  is 
frequently  practised." 

"  Mr.  Boudinot  having  offered  to  the  Board  the  draft  of  a 
petition  to  that  purpose,  Ordered,  That  it  be  signed  by  the 
President  of  the  Board,  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Dr. 
Scudder  to  be  presented  to  the  Assembly." 

Two  years  after,  the  following  minute  occurs  :  "  The  honor- 
able Legislature  of  this  State,  in  consequence  of  an  application 
made  to  them  by  the  Board  through  Dr.  N.  Scudder,  have  been 
pleased  to  pass  a  law  enabling  the  Board  to  hold  its  sessions  by 
smaller  quorums  than  formerly."  This  alteration  in  the  charter 
made  nine  members  of  the  Board  regularly  convened  a  quorum, 
provided  the  President  of  the  Board,  the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, or  the  eldest  Trustee,  were  one  of  the  nine.  The  act  as 
now  passed  was  limited  to  five  years ;  but  it  was  subsequently 
re-enacted  and  made  perpetual. 

At  the  Commencement  of  1781,  six  young  gentlemen  were 
admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  the  Arts,  five  of  whom 
had  pursued  their  studies  at  Princeton  and  had  passed  the 
usual  examinations.  The  sixth,  who  was  from  Virginia,  had 
completed  his  studies  under  the  care  of  Professor  Smith.  The 
Commencement  this  year  took  place  on  the  26th  of  September. 

"The  Committee  of  Repairs  reported  that  they  had  not  been 
able  to  effect  much  in  repairing  the  College,  through  a  failure 
VOL.  i. — 22 


230      HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

of  the  remittances  that  were  ordered  at  the  last  session  of  the 
Board."     Whereupon  the  following  order  was  passed  : 

"  Ordered,  That  every  pupil  who  shall  hereafter  enter  the  College  shall  pay 
entrance  money  of  one  guinea,  which,  together  with  the  rents  of  the  chambers,  shall 
be  appropriated  by  the  Treasurer  as  a  fund  to  discharge  the  expense  of  such  repairs 
as  shall  be  judged  to  be  indispensably  necessary  in  the  College.  And  as  these 
moneys  will  arise  too  slowly  to  answer  the  demands  of  the  workmen,  President 
Reed  [of  Pennsylvania]  and  Colonel  Bayard  are  requested  and  authorized  to  borrow 
the  necessary  sum  on  the  credit  of  the  said  fund." 

This  they  were  unable  to  do,  and  so  reported  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Board.  But  they  themselves  generously  ad- 
vanced towards  the  repairs  the  sum  of  thirty-nine  pounds, 
which  was  repaid  to  them  by  credits  on  the  College  bills  of 
their  sons. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  requested  to  do  his  utmost  to  recover  payment  of  the 
account  against  the  United  States,  given  to  Congress,  pursuant  to  an  order  of  the 
Board,  September  27,  1780,  and  was  empowered  to  receive  it  in  the  name  of  the 
Trustees,  and  to  carry  it  to  their  credit  in  the  account  of  salary." 

Two  days  after  the  Commencement,  viz.,  on  the  28th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1781,  Dr.  Witherspoon  prepared  a  communication  ad- 
dressed to  the  public  on  the  condition  of  the  College  and  with 
respect  to  the  provision  made  for  the  teaching  and  boarding  of 
the  students.  It  was  published  in  the  "  New  Jersey  Gazette" 
for  October  10,  1781. 

The  following  are  the  more  important  of  the  particulars 
mentioned : 

1.  That  a  considerable  part  of  the  College  is  already  re- 
paired, and  that  the  Trustees  have  given  directions  for  the 
completion  of  the  repairs  without  delay ;  and  that,  as  formerly, 
the  under-graduates  would  be  required  to  lodge  in  the  Col- 
lege building,  unless  exempted  by  special  permission  from  the 
President. 

2.  That  board  would  be  furnished  by  the  Steward  of  the  Col- 
lege for  the  moderate  sum  of  ten  shillings  a  week,  and  that  no 
student  would  be  permitted  to  board  out  of  College  without 
express  license  from  the  President,  or,  in  his  absence,  from  the 
senior  Professor. 

3.  That  every  new  scholar,  at  his  first  coming  to  College, 


DR.   WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


331 


must  pay  one  guinea  entrance,  and  at  the  rate  of  six  pounds 
per  annum  tuition,  and  two  pounds  per  annum  for  chamber 
rent ;  and  that  the  charges  for  tuition  and  board  must  be  paid 
every  six  months  in  advance,  and  that  punctuality  in  making 
these  advance  payments  would  be  rigidly  insisted  on. 

The  most  particular  and  doubtless  the  most  accurate  account 
of  the  condition  of  the  College  edifice  at  this  time  is  one  given 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  who  was  President  of  the  Col- 
lege from  1812  to  1822.  It  is  contained  in  an  address  before 
the  Alumni  Association  in  1840,  in  which  he  says: 

"I  entered  this  College  on  the  gth  of  May,  1782.  .  .  .  The  College  buildings 
at  that  time  consisted  only  of  this  edifice  [Nassau  Hall],  the  President's  house,  and 
a  dwelling  for  the  Steward,  originally  constructed  for  a  College  kitchen,  and  then 
used  as  such,  although  the  family  of  the  Steward  had  their  residence  in  it.  The 
lower  and  upper  stories  of  this  edifice  still  remained  in  the  ruined  state  in  which 
they  had  been  left  by  the  British  and  American  armies,  entirely  uninhabited  and 
uninhabitable,  except  that  on  the  lowest  story  [now  the  cellar] ,  at  the  east  end,  Dr. 
Witherspoon  had  fitted  up  a  room  for  his  grammar-school,  and  opposite  to  it,  on 
the  south  side,  another  room  was  so  far  repaired  as  to  be  used  for  a  dining-room, 
and  in  the  fourth  story  [now  the  third]  the  Cliosophic  Society  had  repaired  one  of 
the  half-rooms  in  the  north  projection  of  the  College,  in  which  their  meetings  were 
held.  The  Whig  Society  was  not  reorganized  till  the  summer  of  my  first  session  in 
the  College,  and  in  its  reorganization  I  had  a  leading  part.  In  the  two  middle 
entries  [the  present  cellar  being  then  the  first  or  lowest  story],  rooms  enough  had 
been  repaired  to  accommodate  all  the  students,  whose  whole  number  was,  I  believe, 
little,  and  but  a  little  turned  of  forty.  Some  of  the  rooms  in  these  entries  still  lay 
waste,  and  the  whole  building  still  exhibited  the  effects  of  General  Washington's 
artillery,  who,  in  the  battle  of  Princeton,  caused  it  to  be  fired  upon  to  drive  out 
British  troops  who  had  taken  refuge  in  it." 

The  annual  Commencement  for  1782  was  held  on  the  25th  of 
September  of  that  year.  Eleven  candidates  were  admitted  to 
the  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  at  this  time,  Mr.  Isaac  Snowden, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Elmer,  of  Essex  County, 
New  Jersey,  were  chosen  Trustees,  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Scudder  and  the  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  both  deceased.* 


*  The  deaths  of  these  excellent  men  are  remarkable  for  the  manner  of  thea-  oc- 
currence. Both  were  killed  instantly, — Dr.  Scudder  by  a  musket-ball  fired  by  one 
of  a  refugee  party,  from  whom  the  doctor  and  his  associates  were  endeavoring  to 
rescue  some  of  their  friends,  who  by  this  party  had  been  taken  prisoners  and  carried 


332        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  represented  to  the  Board  the  pains  he  had  taken  to  have  the 
accounts  of  the  College  against  the  United  States  given  in  to  Congress,  pursuant  to 
an  order  of  the  Board  of  September  27,  1780.  Resolved,  That  Dr.  Witherspoon 
take  that  account  into  his  own  hands  and  endeavor  to  compound  it  with  the  States, 
or  otherwise  turn  it  to  the  best  advantage  in  his  power  and  carry  it  to  the  credit  of 
the  Trustees. 

"  Messrs.  John  Bayard,  Elias  Boudinot,  and  Jonathan  B.  Smith  were  appointed 
to  settle  the  old  account  between  Dr.  Witherspoon  and  the  Trustees,  previous  to  the 
year  1775." 

From  an  examination  of  the  Treasurer's  accounts,  it  appeared 
that  the  bonds  and  the  certificates  of  stock,  with  the  interest 
due  on  them,  amounted  to  the  sum  of  .£341 1.0.3.  The  balance 
in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  at  this  date  was  ^"13.18. 

The  following  minutes  are  among  the  records  of  this  meet- 
ing: 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  do  pay  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  on  account  six  hun- 
dred pounds,  including  two  hundred  and  seventeen  pounds  already  paid  to  him 
by  a  bond  on  Mr.  Elias  Woodruff"  (Steward  of  the  College). 

This  bond  was  returned  to  the  Board,  with  their  consent. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  management  of  the  College  be  continued  in  the  hands  of 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  the  same  manner  as  it  has  been  ever  since  the  confusions  of 
the  war." 

"  Ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  do  immediately  write  to  every  obligor  in  arrear 
for  interest  on  their  respective  bonds,  that  unless  the  interest  is  discharged  without 
delay  their  bonds  will  be  put  into  suit  without  further  notice, — which  he  is  to  do 
accordingly, — the  moneys  arising  therefrom  to  be  applied  to  discharge  the  Presi- 
dent's salary." 

off  from  Colt's  Neck,  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey.  His  death  occurred  on  the 
1 6th  of  October,  1781.  It  was  said  of  him,  "  Few  men  have  fallen  in  this  country 
that  were  so  useful,  or  so  generally  mourned  for  in  death."  His  pastor,  the  Rev. 
John  Woodhull,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  preached  at  his  funeral  a  sermon  from 
the  words,  "  And  all  Judah  and  Jerusalem  mourned  for  Josiah,  and  Jeremiah 
lamented  for  him." 

Mr.  Caldwell  was  killed  by  a  sentinel  at  Elizabethtown  Point,  to  which  place  he 
had  gone  to  meet  and  to  conduct  to  the  town  a  sister  of  one  of  his  parishioners,  who 
was  expected  from  New  York  in  a  flag-sloop.  As  Mr.  Caldwell  was  about  to  step 
on  board  the  sloop  to  return  a  small  bundle  which  had  been  handed  to  him  with 
the  request  that  he  would  take  it  to  the  town,  his  murderer  ordered  him  to  stop, 
and  upon  his  doing  so  the  soldier  presented  his  musket  and  shot  him.  He  fell  and 
expired  immediately.  He  was  an  earnest  and  active  patriot,  as  well  as  an  able  and 
devoted  minister  of  the  gospel.  His  wife  was  shot  by  a  British  soldier  on  the  8th 
of  June,  1 780.  Both  husband  and  wife  were  highly  respected  and  greatly  beloved. 
Mr.  CaldwelPs  murderer  was  tried  and  executed. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


333 


These  orders  show  the  confidence  reposed  in  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  and  also  the  low  state  of  the  College  revenues. 

"  A  letter  from  his  Excellency  John  Dickinson,  Esq.,  Governor  of  the  Delaware 
State,  to  the  President  of  the  College,  to  be  communicated  to  the  Trustees,  was  read, 
enclosing  a  promissory  note  for  ,£100,  and  proposing  that  the  interest  of  so  much  of 
it  as  the  Trustees  may  judge  proper  might  annually,  or  as  often  as  they  approve, 
be  applied  in  procuring  a  gold  or  silver  medal  to  be  bestowed  upon  the  student 
who  shall  compose  the  best  dissertation  on  some  one  of  the  following  subjects,  viz. : 

"  I.  A  zeal  for  religion  clear  of  bigotry  and  enthusiasm. 

"  2.  A  liberality  of  sentiment  untainted  by  licentiousness. 

"  3.  A  purity  of  manners  free  from  censorial  austerity. 

"  4.  What  are  the  most  proper  measures  to  be  adopted  by  a  government  for  pro- 
moting and  establishing  habits  of  piety  and  virtue  among  a  people? 

"  5.  No  one  or  more  of  the  United  States  can  ever  derive  so  much  happiness 
from  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  from  its  continuance. 

"  The  direction  of  the  whole,  together  with  a  power  of  changing  the  subjects,  to 
be  vested  in  the  Board. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  do  accept  of  the  donation,  and  that  a  letter  of  thanks 
be  written  to  Governor  Dickinson,  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees,  and  signed  by  the 
President." 

The  following  are  the  only  other  minutes  in  which  mention 
is  made  of  the  Dickinson  medal  for  thirty-four  years: 

September  24,  1783. — "According  to  the  tenor  of  Governor  Dickinson's  dona- 
tion last  Fall,  a  partial  meeting  of  the  Trustees  in  the  Spring  appointed  as  the 
subject  to  be  written  upon  for  his  medal  the  fourth  question  proposed  by  him, 
viz.,  '  What  are  the  most  proper  measures  to  be  adopted  by  a  government  for  pro- 
moting and  establishing  habits  of  piety  and  virtue  among  a  people  ?'  One  dis- 
sertation only  appearing  before  the  Board,  the  President  was  directed  to  republish 
the  subject,  and  to  invite  the  students  to  enter  into  this  competition,  and  to  bring 
in  their  dissertations  at  the  next  examinations  for  degrees,  or  at  the  utmost  against 
the  next  Commencement;  and  the  President  and  the  Professor  of  Divinity  and 
Moral  Philosophy  were  directed  to  provide  a  medal,  with  proper  devices,  to  be 
given  on  the  occasion." 

September  29  and  30,  1784. — "The  medal  given  by  Dr.  Dickinson,  President 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  was  adjudged  to  Mr.  Joseph  Clay,  of  the  present 
Senior  class,  for  the  best  dissertation  on  the  subject  proposed  by  the  Board  at  their 
last  stated  meeting."* 

"  Ordered,  That  the  subject  to  be  proposed  for  the  medal  next  year  be  the 
second  mentioned  in  the  letter  accompanying  Dr.  Dickinson's  donation,  viz.,  'A 
liberality  of  sentiment  untainted  by  licentiousness." 

*  Mr.  Clay  was  a  native  of  Georgia.  After  leaving  College  he  studied  law, 
and  became  an  eminent  jurist,  and  U.  S.  District  Judge  for  his  native  State.  In 
1801  he  became  a  Baptist  preacher.  Mr.  Clay's  dissertation  was  published  with  a 
dedicatory  preface  to  Governor  Dickinson. 


334       HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

September  28,  1785. — "Whereas  there  was  but  one  dissertation  for  Dr.  Dickin- 
son's medal  produced,  and  that  not  in  proper  time  to  have  the  same  examined  and 
a  judgment  formed  upon  it  at  present,  Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  the  Faculty 
of  the  College  for  their  decision ;  and  that  all  future  dissertations  for  medals  be 
brought  in  to  the  Faculty  at  or  before  the  last  examination  of  the  Senior  class, 
that  a  judgment  may  be  formed  upon  the  same  in  proper  season,  and  the  victor 
be  publicly  announced  on  the  day  of  commencement. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  subject  to  be  competed  on  for  Dr.  Dickinson's  medal  be  the 
third  contained  in  his  letter  to  the  Board,  viz.,  'A  purity  of  manners  free  from  cen- 
sorial austerity.' " 

September  23  and  24,  1788. — "  Ordered,  That  the  subject  to  be  competed  on  for 
Dr.  Dickinson's  medal  be  the  following :  '  No  one  or  more  of  the  United  States 
can  ever  derive  so  much  happiness  from  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  from  its 
continuance.'  " 

September  29  and  30,  1789.— -"  On  the  subject  of  Dr.  Dickinson's  and  Dr. 
Minto's  medals,  Resolved,  That  the  Faculty  of  the  College  be  empowered  to 
examine  the  essays  that  have  been  produced,  and  decree  the  said  medals  accord- 
ing to  their  judgment." 

Dr.  Minto's  medal,  of  the  value  of  five  pounds,  was  for  the 
best  essay  or  dissertation  on  either  of  the  following  topics : 

1.  The  unlawfulness  and  impolicy  of  capital  punishments,  and  the  best  method 
of  reforming  criminals  and  making  them  useful  to  society. 

2.  The  unlawfulness  and  impolicy  of  African  slavery,  and  the  best  means  of 
abolishing  it  in  the  United  States,  and  of  promoting  the  happiness  of  free  negroes. 

The  form  of  expression  used  in  the  last  minute,  viz.,  that  of 
September  30,  1789,  indicates  that  there  were  some  competi- 
tors for  the  medals  named,  but  how  many  is  not  said  or  known. 

One  thing  is  certain  in  regard  to  competitions  for  these 
medals,  that  they  ceased  to  take  place,  and  most  probably  from 
an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  students  to  engage  in  them, 
and  that  the  Trustees,  finding  this  to  be  the  case,  ceased  to  pro- 
pose any  more  topics  for  handling  and  for  competition.  These 
competitions,  it  is  evident,  were  not  favorites  with  the  students, 
and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  they  came  to  an  end  with 
the  tacit  if  not  with  a  formal  consent  of  Governor  Dickinson, 
whose  death  did  not  take  place  until  February,  1808,  and  the 
last  that  we  hear  of  any  competitions  for  his  medal  was  in  Sep- 
tember, 1789,  more  than  eighteen  years  before  his  death. 

According  to  the  terms  of  Governor  Dickinson's  letter,  it 
was  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Trustees  how  much  of  the 
interest  of  his  promissory  note  for  one  hundred  pounds  should 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


335 


be  expended  for  a  medal,  and  how  often,  his  proposition  being 
this :  "  that  the  interest  of  so  much  of  it  as  the  Trustees  may 
judge  proper  might  annually,  or  as  often  as  they  approve,  be  ap- 
plied in  procuring  a  gold  or  silver  medal,"  etc.  After  a  fair  and 
full  trial  for  several  years,  the  matter  was  dropped ;  and  there 
is  no  evidence  that  Governor  Dickinson  ever  expressed  any 
dissatisfaction  with  the  action  or  non-action  of  the  Board  in 
regard  to  it. 

At  the  Commencement  of  1783,  fourteen  candidates  were 
admitted  to  their  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

This  was  a  memorable  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  College, 
rendered  so  by  the  presence  of  General  Washington,  of  the 
National  Congress,  and  of  two  foreign  Ministers.  Driven  from 
Philadelphia  by  a  turbulent  corps  of  soldiers,  Congress  had 
assembled  at  Princeton,  and  they  held  their  sessions  in  the 
library-room  of  the  College,  which  was  in  the  front  projection, 
and  on  what  is  now  the  second  or  middle  story  of  the  build- 
ing. This  room  has  been  divided  into  two  by  the  passage-way 
leading  from  the  front  door  of  the  edifice  to  the  large  room 
in  the  rear.  This  alteration  was  made  upon  the  rebuilding  of 
Nassau  Hall  after  the  fire  of  March,  1855. 

During  the  time  that  Congress  held  its  sessions  at  Princeton, 
Dr.  Boudinot,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  was  the  President  of 
that  body.  "  As  a  compliment  to  the  College,  to  their  own 
President,  as  well  as  to  the  President  of  the  College,  who  had 
recently  been  one  of  their  own  members,  Congress  determined 
to  adjourn  and  to  attend  the  Commencement." 

The  Valedictory  orator  on  this  occasion  was  Ashbel  Green, 
the  same  who  for  many  years  was  a  Trustee  of  the  College, 
and  for  ten  years  its  President.  The  exercises  were  held  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  then  the  only  one  in  Princeton.  At 
th,e  close  of  his  Valedictory,  Mr.  Green  made  an  address  of 
some  length  to  General  Washington.  Speaking  of  this  occur- 
rence, in  his  account  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration,  Dr. 
Green  observes  that  his  address  to  the  General  "was  received 
with  manifest  feeling;  and  next  day  he  met  me  in  the  entry  of 
the  College  as  he  was  going  to  a  committee-room  of  Congress, 
took  me  by  the  hand,  walked  with  me  a  short  time,  flattered 


336       HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

me  a  little,  and  desired  me  to  present  his  best  respects  to  my 
classmates,  and  his  best  wishes  for  their  success  in  life.  There 
had  never  been  such  an  audience  at  a  Commencement  before, 
and  perhaps  there  never  will  be  again.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was 
of  course  highly  gratified." 

The  only  business  transacted  by  the  Board  on  that  day,  after 
the  Commencement  exercises,  was  the  adoption  of  the  following 
minute : 

"  The  Board  being  desirous  to  give  some  testimony  of  their  high  respect  for  the 
character  of  his  Excellency  General  Washington,  who  has  so  auspiciously  con- 
ducted the  armies  of  America, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Rodgers,  and  Johnes  be  a  com- 
mittee to  wait  upon  his  Excellency  to  request  him  to  sit  for  his  picture,  to  be  taken 
by  Mr.  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  of  Philadelphia.  And  that  his  portrait  when  finished 
be  placed  in  the  Hall  of  the  College,  in  the  room  of  the  picture  of  the  late  King 
of  Great  Britain  [George  the  Second],  which  was  torn  away  by  a  ball  from  the 
American  artillery  in  the  battle  of  Princeton." 

On  the  following  day  "  Dr.  Witherspoon  reported  to  the 
Board  that  his  Excellency  General  Washington  had  delivered 
to  him  fifty  guineas,  which  he  begged  the  Trustees  to  accept 
as  a  testimony  of  his  respect  for  the  College."  The  following 
resolution  was  then  passed  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  accept  it,  and  that  the  same  committee  who  were 
appointed  to  solicit  his  Excellency's  picture  do  at  the  same  time  present  to  him 
the  thanks  of  the  Board  for  this  instance  of  his  politeness  and  generosity." 

As  provided  for  in  the  above  resolution,  General  Washing- 
ton's portrait,  in  full  length,  was  painted  by  Mr.  Peale,  and  in 
the  background  of  the  painting  there  is  a  representation  of 
the  battle  of  Princeton,  and  a  portrait  of  General  Mercer,  who 
fell  mortally  wounded  at  this  battle.  General  Mercer  is  repre- 
sented as  lying  upon  the  ground,  supported  by  an  officer  sup- 
posed to  be  a  surgeon,  and  standing  by  this  officer  there  is 
another  bearing  the  American  flag.  It  is  said  that  General 
Mercer  had  a  brother  who  strongly  resembled  him  in  appear- 
ance, and  that  Mr.  Peale  availed  himself  of  this  resemblance 
in  painting  his  picture  of  the  general.  The  portrait  was  placed 
in  the  old  College  Chapel. 

From  the  position  of  the  American  army,  of  the  College 


DR.    WITHERSPOOWS  ADMINISTRATION. 


337 


building,  and  of  the  portrait  of  the  King  in  the  College  Chapel, 
it  may  readily  have  been  that  the  portrait  was  destroyed  by  a 
cannon-ball ;  and  from  the  above  minute  it  appears  that  this 
was  the  received  tradition  in  regard  to  it.  It  is  known  that  the 
building  was  struck  in  different  places  by  cannon-balls  during 
the  affair  at  Princeton ;  and  one  may  have  entered  the  chapel, 
where  the  portrait  of  his  Majesty  was  hanging,  and  destroyed 
it.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  portrait  was  destroyed,  and  the 
frame,  regilded,  now  contains  a  full-length  portrait  of  General 
Washington.  The  portrait  of  his  Majesty  was  presented  to  the 
College  by  Governor  Belcher,  to  whom  the  College  was  in- 
debted for  its  second  charter  and  for  his  liberality  and  earnest 
devotion  to  its  interests. 

Professor  Houston,  having  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law, 
resigned  his  offices  of  Treasurer  and  of  Professor  of  Mathematics 
and  Natural  Philosophy.  The  thanks  of  the  Board  were  pre- 
sented to  him  for  his  past  services.  Professor  Smith  was  chosen 
Treasurer  in  the  room  of  Professor  Houston. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  proposed  to  the  Trustees  that  they  ought  now  to  take  the  pro- 
vision of  teachers  upon  themselves;  the  minute  of  September  29,  I779>  should  be 
revised,  and  that  it  should  be  entered  upon  record  that  his  proposal  in  the  first 
part  of  the  minute  was  intended  to  be  permanent ;  and  that  during  the  whole  time 
that  Professor  Smith  shall  continue  in  his  office,  one-half  of  his  salary  shall  be  paid 
to  said  Professor;  and  that  in  the  event  of  death  or  resignation,  or  in  any  other 
way  his  ceasing  to  be  in  that  office,  the  President's  salary  shall  return  to  its  former 
channel. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  do  approve  of  this  proposal  and  interpretation, 
which  they  consider  as  an  act  of  generosity  towards  this  corporation ;  and  that  Dr. 
Smith  do  hereafter  draw  for  that  part  of  his  salary  according  to  the  established 
mode. 

"  The  Board  taking  into  their  attention  the  provision  necessary  to  be  made  for 
Dr.  Smith,  and  considering  his  situation  as  the  immediate  representative  of  the 
College,  and  in  the  President's  house  exposed  to  more  expense  than  usual  in  his 
office,  Resolved,  That  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  be  allowed  him  additional 
to  the  sum  which  he  already  draws  out  of  the  former  salary  of  the  President." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  had  removed  from  the  President's  house  to 
his  own  private  residence,  known  under  the  name  of  Tusculum, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  College,  and  on  a  road  run- 
ning northward  from  the  main  street  of  the  town,  and  directly 
opposite  the  College. 


338        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Mr.  James  Riddle,  who  had  been  Tutor  in  the  College  since 
the  war,  resigned  his  office;  and,  the  Trustees  deeming  it  best 
to  employ  two  Tutors  rather  than  one,  Messrs.  Ashbel  Green 
and  Samuel  Beach  were  elected  to  that  office. 

For  reasons  assigned  in  the  minute  on  the  subject,  the  students 
were,  by  a  resolution  of  the  Board,  prohibited  from  attending 
any  dancing-school. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  gave  in  his  account  with  the  Trustees,  which 
was  examined  and  approved,  and  from  which  it  appeared  that 
the  College  was  indebted  to  him  in  the  sum  of  £88 1.13. 3. 

The  committee  to  examine  the  account  were  Messrs.  William 
Peartree  Smith  and  John  Bayard. 

An  extra  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  the  22d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1783.  The  principal  object  of  the  meeting  was  "to  con- 
sider and  adopt  measures  for  repairing  the  funds  of  the  College, 
which  have  been  so  greatly  injured  during  the  late  war." 

"  It  appearing  that  the  necessities  of  the  institution  could  not  admit  of  any 
further  delay,  and  that  the  favorable  dispositions  of  the  people  of  Europe  towards 
America  afforded  a  promising  prospect  of  supplying  them,  by  applying  to  their 
generosity,  Resolved,  That  a  mission  be  sent  thither  as  soon  as  possible  for  the 
purpose  of  soliciting  benefactions  for  the  College." 

Dr.  Witherspoon  and  General  Reed  were  requested  to  under- 
take the  mission,  to  which  they  were  pleased  to  consent. 

The  following  minute  shows  the  low  condition  of  the  College 
treasury  at  this  time : 

"  It  being  necessary  that  the  debt  due  from  the  corporation  to  Dr.  Witherspoon 
should  be  discharged,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  undertake  the  voyage,  and  the 
treasury  not  being  in  a  condition  to  answer  this  demand  immediately,  Messrs. 
Snowden  and  Bayard  offered  to  advance  to  him,  on  the  credit  of  the  Board,  any 
moneys  that  might  be  necessary  to  equip  him  for  his  voyage. 

"  Resolved,  That  these  gentlemen  have  the  thanks  of  the  Board,  and  their  offer 
be  accepted,  and  that  they  be  empowered  to  draw  upon  the  commissioners  in  Europe 
for  the  sum  which  they  may  advance ;  and  that,  in  all  events,  the  treasury  of  the 
College  be  answerable  for  that  sum. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  other  expenses  which  may  be  incurred  by  the  commissioners 
in  the  execution  of  their  mission  be  allowed  to  them  out  of  the  College  treasury. 

"  General  Reed  was  pleased  to  offer  to  the  Board  to  serve  them  in  England 
without  any  expense  to  the  corporation.  Ordered,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  be 
presented  to  General  Reed  for  this  generous  proposal." 

The  mission  accomplished  nothing.    Dr.  Witherspoon  visited 


DR.    WITHERSPOON1  S  ADMINISTRATION. 


339 


Scotland,  and  obtained  in  all  not  more  than  what  was  just  suf- 
ficient to  meet  his  expenses.  It  does  not  appear  that  General 
Reed  obtained  anything  for  the  College.  The  matter  of  sur- 
prise is,  that  they  and  the  other  Trustees  ever  imagined  that 
there  was  ground  for  a  reasonable  hope  that  any  funds  could 
be  collected  in  Great  Britain  at  that  time  for  an  American 
College,  and  that  College  the  one  most  distinguished  for  the 
rebel  character  of  its  President  and  guardians. 

The  following  extract  from  the  commission  given  by  the 
Board  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  and  General  Reed  shows  in  strong 
language  the  depressed  condition  of  the  College  finances : 

"Whereas  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  founded  by  private  liberality  for  the 
promotion  of  religion  and  learning,  and  had  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven  arisen  to  an 
eminent  degree  of  reputation  and  usefulness  before  the  late  unhappy  war;  but 
being  occupied  as  barracks  by  the  contending  armies,  its  library  and  philosoph- 
ical apparatus  destroyed,  the  funds  of  the  College  for  the  support  of  professors  and 
masters,  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  and  events  of  war,  sunk  and  almost  anni- 
hilated, the  very  existence  of  this  benevolent  and  useful  institution  is  become  doubt- 
ful unless  some  certain  and  effectual  relief  can  be  obtained  from  the  friends  of 
virtue  and  literature  who  have  not  been  exposed  to  such  dreadful  calamities." 

It  was  resolved  to  present  a  congratulatory  address  to  his 

Excellency Van  Berkel,  Ambassador  from  the  States  of 

the  United  Netherlands  to  the  United  States  of  America ;  and 
by  request  Dr.  Witherspoon  prepared  an  address,  which  was 
agreed  to  by  the  Board.  His  Excellency  was  present  at  the 
recent  Commencement.  In  the  address  reference  was  made  to 
the  name  of  the  principal  edifice  as  derived  from  Holland. 

In  view  of  Dr.  Smith's  state  of  health,  they  deemed  it  im- 
prudent for  him  to  take  charge  of  the  College  pulpit  during  the 
absence  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  they  therefore  resolved  to  ask 
supplies  for  the  pulpit  from  the  Presbyteries  of  New  Brunswick 
and  of  New  York. 

The  following  minute  in  regard  to  Governor  Belcher's  por- 
trait was  adopted  at  this  meeting  of  the  Board : 

"  The  Trustees,  being  extremely  sorry  that  the  picture  of  his  Excellency  Governor 
Belcher,  which  hung  in  the  College  Hall,  has  been  destroyed  during  the  late  war, 
appointed  Mr.  William  P.  Smith  to  endeavor  to  procure  an  original  painting  from 
some  of  the  remaining  friends  or  relations  of  the  family  in  New  England,  or  if  that 
should  be  impracticable,  then  to  procure  the  best  copy  that  shall  be  in  his  power, 


340        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

that  it  may  be  placed  where  his  picture  formerly  hung,  as  a  testimony  of  the  grati- 
tude of  the  Board  for  the  eminent  services  formerly  rendered  by  his  Excellency  to 
this  institution." 

Mr.  Smith's  efforts  to  obtain  another  portrait  were  not  at- 
tended with  the  desired  success.  At  this  time  there  is  a  por- 
trait of  the  Governor,  a  copy  of  one  in  the  picture-gallery  of 
the  Athenaeum  in  Boston.  The  copy  was  made  at  the  expense 
of  the  late  Professor  George  M.  Giger,  and  by  him  presented 
to  the  College. 

The  next  Commencement  of  the  College  occurred  on  the  2Qth 
of  September,  1784.  On  this  occasion  the  Trustees,  as  usual, 
held  a  meeting.  Twenty-seven  candidates  were  admitted  to  the 
first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

"  The  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  President  of  Yale  College,  and  Doctor  of  Divinity  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  was  admitted  ad  eundem  in  this  College,  and  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Civil  and  Canon  Laws  [LL.D.]  was  conferred  on  the  Rev.  Doctor 
Stiles,  and  on  the  Honorable  Samuel  Spencer,  Esq.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of 
North  Carolina. 

"  Messrs.  Wm.  P.  Smith  and  Robert  Ogden,  Esqrs.,  the  Committee  appointed  to 
examine  and  make  report  on  Dr.  Witherspoon's  account  of  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments in  his  mission  to  Europe  on  behalf  of  the  College,  reported  that  such  was  the 
disposition  of  the  people  in  Europe  in  general,  and  in  Great  Britain  particularly, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  most  faithful  and  prudent  exertions,  it  was  impossible  to 
effect  anything  of  importance  in  that  country  for  the  benefit  of  the  College ;  and 
that,  after  an  examination  of  the  credits  and  debits  of  his  account,  they  found  a 
balance,  in  favor  of  the  College,  of  only  five  pounds  fourteen  shillings." 

These  credits  included  the  money  advanced  by  Messrs.  Snow- 
den  and  Bayard  to  enable  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  go  to  Europe. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  reported, "  That  when  he  left  Europe,  he  and 
General  Reed  devolved  their  trust  on  a  number  of  gentlemen 
in  Britain,  who  engaged  themselves,  as  far  as  should  be  in  their 
power,  to  accomplish  the  object  of  their  mission,  and  to  make 
what  collections  they  should  be  able  on  behalf  of  the  College, 
and  to  remit  it  to  the  order  of  the  Board."  Whereupon  it  was 
resolved,  "  That  Dr.  Witherspoon  be  appointed  to  correspond 
with  those  gentlemen  relative  to  the  subject  of  the  trust  de- 
volved upon  them,  and  to  make  report  thereon,  from  time  to 
time,  to  this  Board."  It  does  not  appear  from  the  minutes  that 
any  report  was  ever  made. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


341 


The  European  mission  proving  to  be  a  failure,  the  Trustees 
next  sought  the  aid  of  the  Presbyteries  composing  the  Synod 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The  minute  of  this  action  is 
as  follows : 

"The  Board,  observing  with  extreme  affliction  the  unsuccessful  result  of  the 
European  mission,  determined  to  make  one  more  application  to  the  charity  and 
generosity  of  the  people  in  America,  for  whose  general  use  the  institution  was 
founded,  and  to  which  it  is  still  faithfully  dedicated ;  and  in  the  first  place  to  apply 
to  the  several  Presbyteries  that  compose  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
entreating  them  to  exert  themselves  with  industry  and  zeal  for  the  support  of  an  in- 
stitution so  serviceable  to  the  general  interests  of  religion,  which  they  have  devoted 
themselves  to  promote.  And  resolved,  That  a  memorial  on  this  head  be  addressed 
to  the  Moderators  of  the  several  Presbyteries  in  the  name  of  the  Board,  in  the  terms 
following  : 

"  The  memorial  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  to  the  several 
Presbyteries  composing  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  sheweth,  That 
among  the  ruinous  consequences  of  the  late  war,  in  the  depreciation  of  the  con- 
tinental money  and  destruction  of  the  College  buildings,  the  funds  and  revenues 
under  the  care  of  your  memorialists  have  been  almost  annihilated.  That  in  order 
to  re-establish  these,  and  to  repair  their  buildings,  and  to  carry  on  the  designs  of 
the  institution,  application  hath  been  lately  made  to  obtain  assistance  from  the 
friends  of  literature  in  Europe ;  but,  unhappily,  your  memorialists  have,  from 
sundry  unexpected  causes,  failed  in  their  foreign  solicitations,  and  have  not  ob- 
tained even  so  much  as  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  undertaking.  It  is  therefore 
become  absolutely  necessary  to  make  a  general  application  to  the  friends  of  religion 
and  learning  in  this  country  who  wish  success  to  an  institution  of  so  much  impor- 
tance to  our  civil  and  religious  interests.  Your  memorialists  have  in  consequence 
deemed  it  a  proper  measure  to  apply  themselves  to  the  respective  Presbyteries 
belonging  to  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  wishing  to  impress  them 
with  a  lively  persuasion  of  the  necessity  of  a  general  exertion  throughout  all  our 
churches  for  the  support  of  this  College  under  its  present  state  of  depression.  Your 
memorialists  must  refer  to  your  wisdom  the  methods  most  proper  and  prudent  to 
pursue  in  soliciting  the  aid  of  the  people  under  your  respective  charges,  and  in 
making  such  personal  or  public  applications  throughout  your  several  churches  and 
districts  as  shall  be  judged  best  and  likely  to  be  most  effectual. 

"  By  order  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON,  President." 

The  writer  has  given  this  memorial  in  full,  and  has  under- 
scored the  expression  "  throughout  all  our  churches,"  that 
the  reader  may  see  that  the  Trustees  of  1784,  as  well  as  their 
predecessors,  recognized  their  close  and  intimate  relations  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  country.  May  their  successors 
in  office  never  forget  it  or  disregard  it  ! 

On  the  2d  of  August  there  was  a  special  meeting  of  the 


342        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Board.  "  The  principal  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  consider 
of  and  adopt  measures  for  the  augmentation  of  the  funds  of 
the  institution ;  and  for  the  reimbursement  of  those  gentlemen 
who  advanced  the  necessary  moneys  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  for 
his  arrears  of  salary,  and  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  his  mis- 
sion to  Europe  on  behalf  of  the  College." 

Several  committees  were  appointed  to  solicit  funds  in  New 
Jersey  and  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Trustees  residing  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  were  empowered  to  vest  such  proportion 
of  the  unfunded  securities  subscribed  as  they  may  think  proper 
in  lands  lying  in  Pennsylvania.  Two  contingent  bequests  of 
one  hundred  pounds  each,  for  the  support  of  poor  scholars  at 
the  College,  by  Mr.  William  McConkey,  of  Monmouth,  New 
Jersey,  were  reported  at  this  meeting. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  requested  to  prepare  and  present  to 
the  Board  at  their  next  meeting  a  statement  of  the  accounts 
of  the  College  from  the  time  that  his  ledger  was  discontinued 
to  the  time  then  present.  He  was  also  authorized  to  settle  with 
the  executors  of  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell,  and  to  give  them 
a  final  discharge  upon  the  receipt  of  the  balance  due  to  the 
College. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  direct  and  assist  the  Treasurer 
in  calling  in  all  the  outstanding  debts  of  the  Corporation,  and 
to  vest  them  in  public  securities,  funded  on  the  excise  or 
other  certain  revenues  in  Pennsylvania.  In  case  the  money 
due  upon  any  of  the  bonds  could  not  be  recovered  in  time  for 
such  investment,  the  committee  were  required  to  get  a  renewal 
of  such  bonds,  with  sufficient  securities. 

The  next  Commencement  was  held  on  the  28th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1785.  Ten  candidates  were  admitted  to  their  first  degree 
in  the  Arts.  The  Rev.  John  Mason  having  tendered  his  resig- 
nation, and  the  Honorable  Joseph  Reed  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Elihu  Spencer  having  departed  this  life  since  the  last  meeting 
of  the  Board,  John  Beatty,  Esq.,  the  Rev.  William  Mackay 
Tennent,  and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Miller  were  chosen  Trustees 
of  the  College. 

"  Dr.  Witherspoon  delivered  to  the  Board  ninety-two  dollars 
in  liquidated  final  settlement  securities,  a  subscription  to  the 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


343 


funds  of  the  College, .received  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Phila- 
delphia." 

Mr.  Stephen  Cook,  of  the  island  of  Bermuda,  was  requested 
to  take  one  or  more  of  the  subscription  papers  prepared  by 
order  of  the  Board,  and  to  make  application  to  the  inhabitants 
of  that  island  for  aid  in  behalf  of  the  College. 

In  their  pecuniary  embarrassment  the  Trustees  availed  them- 
selves of  every  possible  chance  of  obtaining  funds  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  College.  Many  of  their  efforts  resulted  in  very 
little  or  nothing ;  but  the  result  of  the  whole  was  that  they 
were  enabled  to  carry  on  the  instruction  of  the  College  with- 
out any  further  interruption,  although  often  in  great  straits  for 
funds.  It  was  in  view  of  existing  difficulties  that  they  adopted 
the  following  minute  : 

"  The  Trustees  pressed  with  the  difficulties  of  supporting  the  necessary  officers 
of  the  College,  and  considering  that  the  tuition  and  the  rent  of  the  institution  have 
not  been  raised  in  any  proportion  to  the  increased  prices  of  other  articles  since  the 
war,  Resolved,  That  two  pounds  per  annum  shall  be  levied  upon  each  student  in 
addition  to  the  present  rates,  under  the  title  of  rent." 

Mr.  Ashbel  Green,  at  this  time  the  senior  Tutor  in  the 
College,  was  chosen  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy,  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
per  annum. 

The  following  order  was  made : 

"  Ordered,  That  if  any  collections  can  be  made  by  the  friends  of  the  College  in 
the  Board,  or  elsewhere,  for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youths  for  the  gospel 
ministry,  it  shall  be  sacredly  appropriated  to  that  purpose  alone ;  the  Board  taking 
from  every  young  person  so  educated  an  obligation,  that  if  he  shall  afterwards 
enter  into  any  other  lucrative  profession,  he  will  refund  to  this  corporation  the 
moneys  expended  in  his  instruction  and  provision." 

This  the  writer  regards  as  an  unwise  measure.  If  we  can 
suppose  a  young  man  disingenuous  enough  to  avail  himself  of 
aid  from  such  a  fund  to  enable  him  to  obtain  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, he  having  no  intention  to  enter  the  ministry,  he  will 
readily  devise  ways  and  means  to  escape  from  any  obligation, 
written  or  oral,  to  repay  the  money  so  obtained.  But  if  a  poor 
youth  enter  upon  his  studies  with  the  intention  of  entering  the 


244       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ministry,  and,  on  account  of  failure  of  health,  or  from  a  con- 
viction that  he  was  not  called  of  God  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, should  give  himself  to  some  other  calling,  he  ought 
not  to  be  required  to  refund  the  money  given  to  him.  He 
acted  in  good  faith  in  receiving  the  proffered  aid,  and  in  giving 
up  his  studies  for  the  ministry  he  continues  to  act  honestly,  and 
no  such  impediment  should  be  put  in  the  way  of  his  following 
the  dictates  of  a  good  conscience  by  laying  upon  him,  while 
yet  a  poor  youth,  an  obligation  to  refund  the  moneys  thus  far 
advanced  for  his  education.  Should  he  engage  in  another  pro- 
fession, or  in  some  profitable  employment,  he  would,  without 
any  such  written  obligation,  refund,  if  in  his  power  to  do  so, 
with  a  due  regard  to  higher  obligations,  what  he  received  in 
the  way  of  help,  as  some  educated  at  this  College  have  done, 
or  expend  in  the  assisting  of  others  as  much  as  they  ever 
received,  and  even  more. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  known  that  any  one  who  gave 
a  written  obligation  to  refund  ever  did  so.  The  practice  of  re- 
quiring such  an  obligation  was  long  since  discontinued  in  this 
College. 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  held  on  the  I9th  of  April,  1786  : 

"  This  College  having  suffered  greatly  by  the  public  during  the  late  war ;  and 
there  being  some  probability  that  in  the  distribution  of  lands  in  the  new  States  to 
the  westward  Congress  might  be  induced  to  make  a  liberal  grant  of  lands  to  the 
institution, — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President,  Dr.  Rodgers,  and  Dr.  Beatty  be  a  committee  to 
present  to  Congress  a  petition  to  this  effect,  when  they  may  think  it  most  prudent 
and  convenient." 

But  no  lands  were  given. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  wearing  College  habits,  agreeably  to  the  order 
of  the  Board  in  the  year  1768,  be  revived  as  soon  as  the  Faculty  of  the  College 
shall  judge  it  convenient,  and  at  farthest  after  the  next  fall  vacation. 

"  Ordered,  That  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  graduates  of  this  College  be  pre- 
pared and  published  at  the  expense  of  the  present  Senior  class;  and  in  collectiug 
and  preparing  the  catalogue  for  the  Press,  Mr.  Green  was  desired  to  render  his 
assistance  to  the  class." 

The  next  Commencement  took  place  on  the  2/th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1786,  and  there  was  a  large  attendance  on  the  part  of  the 
Trustees. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  345 

Twenty-five  members  of  the  Senior  class  were  admitted  to 
the  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

"A  letter  was  received  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woodhull  enclosing  three  hundred  and 
sixty-six  dollars  and  ten  cents,  .  .  .  which  sum  was  the  subscription  of  General 
Forman,  John  Burrows,  and  Tunis  Vanderveer,  Esqrs." 

"  Dr.  Smith,  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  requested  leave  to  resign  that  office. 
The  Board  accepted  the  resignation,  and  elected  to  the  office  Dr.  Thomas  Wiggins, 
of  Princeton." 

"  Mr.  Gilbert  T.  Snowden  [one  of  the  Tutors]  was  appointed  Librarian,  and 
overseer  of  College  repairs,  with  a  salary  of  five  pounds  per  annum ;  and  [it  was] 
ordered,  That  each  student  pay  five  shillings  at  the  beginning  of  each  session  for  the 
use  of  the  Library. 

"  That  a  blank  book  should  be  provided,  in  which  all  donations  to  the  Library 
should  be  entered. 

"  And,  That  all  moneys  belonging  to  the  institution  shall  be  paid  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  the  Treasurer,  and  that  the  Treasurer  pay  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  the 
College ;  and  that  in  all  other  cases  he  pay  no  moneys  except  to  the  express  order 
of  the  Board." 

The  most  important  action  of  the  Board  at  this  meeting  was 
the  last,  and  it  is  embodied  in  the  following  minute : 

"  The  Board  of  Trustees  considering  the  situation  of  Dr.  Smith  with  regard  to 
the  institution,  and  the  duties  he  is  necessarily  called  to  discharge,  appointed  him 
to  the  office  of  Vice- President  of  the  College." 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  April  18,  1787. 

"  The  Rev.  John  Woodhull,  one  of  the  Trustees,  presented  to  the  Board  two 
hundred  and  fourteen  dollars  and  seventeen  cents,  in  Pierce's  final  settlement 
notes,  received  of  Kenneth  Hankinson,  Esq.,  and  the  balance  of  one  formerly  re- 
ceived in  part  from  Tunis  Vanderveer,  Esq.  Mr.  Woodhull  also  reported  that 
he  had  obtained  of  Mr.  Dirck  Sutphin  a  bond  of  .£100,  on  account  of  Mr.  Wm. 
McConkey,  for  the  education  of  poor  youth  in  the  College. 

"  The  thanks  of  the  Board  were  presented  to  Mr.  Woodhull  for  his  diligence  in 
this  matter." 

From  a  report  of  the  committee  on  the  late  Treasurer's 
account,  it  appeared  that  there  was  due  to  him  the  sum  of 
^"301.14.7.  They  reported  also  that  the  Treasurer  elect,  Dr. 
Thomas  Wiggins,  declined  the  appointment  on  the  terms  pre- 
scribed by  the  Board.  Upon  which  the  Board  resolved  to 
proceed  to  another  election.  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  was 
chosen :  neither  did  he  accept  the  office. 

Professor  Ashbel  Green,  the  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  and  Mr.  Gilbert  T.  Snowden,  a  Tutor  of 
the  College,  having  resigned  their  offices,  it  was  resolved  to 
VOL.  i. — 23 


346        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

appoint  two  Tutors  in  their  room.  Mr.  James  McCoy  was 
chosen  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Green,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Finley 
Snovvden  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  Snowden.  But 
neither  of  these  gentlemen  accepted  the  appointment,  and  in 
their  room  Messrs.  John  W.  Vancleve  and  James  Henderson 
Imlay  were  chosen  Tutors  by  the  Faculty,  agreeably  to  an 
authority  given  to  them  by  the  Board. 

The  Hon.  William  Patterson  was  chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the 
place  of  Robert  Ogden,  Esq.,  deceased. 

A  committee  of  finance  was  appointed,  and  its  duties  pre- 
scribed. 

It  was  ordered,  that  the  Faculty  prepare  and  present  to  the 
Board  at  their  next  meeting  a  system  of  laws  for  the  internal 
government  of  the  institution. 

The  next  Commencement  of  the  College  took  place  on  Wed- 
nesday, the  26th  of  September,  1787.  The  Board  met  on  the 
day  preceding,  and  continued  in  session  on  Wednesday  and 
Thursday. 

Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  McWhorter,  Mr.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Tennent 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  some  regulations  by 
which  the  Board  may  be  directed  in  conferring  the  higher 
degrees  in  Theology  and  Law.  Although  the  proposal  of  Pro- 
fessors Houston  and  Smith  on  this  subject  had  met  with  favor 
from  the  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred,  and  in  general 
was  acceptable  to  the  Board,  it  appears  from  this  and  other 
minutes  that  it  did  not  fully  meet  the  views  of  the  Trustees. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Johnes,  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  presented  to 
the  Board  in  public  securities  the  sum  of  $107.10  collected  by 
him  for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  at  the  College. 
The  thanks  of  the  Board  were  presented  to  Dr.  Johnes  for  his 
zeal  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  College. 

"The  Committee  to  prepare  rules  for  the  conferring  the  highest  degrees  reported 
the  following,  which  were  adopted  by  the  Board : 

"  I.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity  or  Doctor 
of  Laws  unless  with  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  of  the  Board. 

"  2.  That  no  person  shall  be  admitted  to  either  of  these  degrees  unless  his  name 
have  been  proposed  to  the  Board  at  least  one  day  before  conferring  the  degree. 

"  3.  It  is  recommended,  in  all  cases  where  gentlemen  are  to  be  proposed  for 
either  of  these  degrees,  their  names  be  reported  to  the  Faculty  of  the  College  at 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


347 


least  ten  clays  before  the  deliberations  [of  the  Board],  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
make  all  necessary  enquiries  concerning  the  merits  of  the  candidates,  and  report 
thereon  to  the  Board." 

The  first  of  these  rules  was  afterwards  repealed,  as  incon- 
sistent with  the  charter  of  the  College. 

The  committee  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting  to  petition 
the  Legislature  to  exempt  the  property  of  the  College  from 
taxation,  reported  that  the  Legislature  had  not  complied  with 
the  request. 

Walter  Minto,  LL.D.,  a  distinguished  mathematical  scholar 
and  astronomer,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  and  held  this  office  until  his  decease,  in 
1796.*  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  educated  at  Edinburgh, 
and  before  his  coming  to  America  had  made  himself  known  to 
the  scientific  world  by  his  mathematical  and  astronomical  pub- 
lications. 

The  Rev.  Manasseh  Cutler,  LL.D.,  of  Connecticut,  a  man  of 
much  note  in  his  day,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Col- 
lege at  this  time  (1787) :  "  I  then  called  upon  Dr.  Smith,  Vice- 
President  of  the  College,  to  whom  I  also  had  letters.  He  is  a 
young  gentleman,  lives  in  an  elegant  style,  and  is  the  first 
literary  character  in  this  State.  He  waited  on  me  to  the  Col- 
lege, introduced  me  to  all  the  Tutors,  and  showed  me  the  apart- 
ments of  the  College.  The  building  is  of  three  stones,  has 
three  cross  entries,  and  a  long  one  in  the  first  story.  The 
chambers  open  into  these  entries  and  render  the  communica- 
tion more  convenient.  The  library  is  small.  .  .  .  The  cabinet 
and  the  philosophical  apparatus  are  very  indifferent.  The  only 
article  worthy  of  notice  was  the  orrery  made  by  Mr.  Ritten- 
house.  This  is  an  elegant  machine,  and  much  exceeds  any  that 
has  been  made  in  Europe.  ...  I  was  much  pleased  with  the 
Hall  and  the  stage  erected  for  the  exhibition.  It  is  well  formed 
for  plays,  which  are  permitted  here,  and  the  dialogue  speaking 
principally  cultivated.  The  Hall  is  ornamented  with  several 
paintings,  particularly  the  famous  battle  in  the  town,"  etc.  The 
remark  concerning  the  permitting  of  plays  on  the  College  stage 

*  An  interesting  sketch  of  Dr.  Minto  is  given  in  the  "  Princeton  Magazine"  for 
1850,  from  the  pen  of  the  editor. 


348        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

is  only  in  so  far  correct  as  dialogues  may  be  classed  under  this 
head.  To  a  communication  to  the  New  Jersey  Historical  So- 
ciety, by  President  Tuttle,  of  Wabash  College,  we  are  indebted 
for  the  above  extract  from  Dr.  Cutler's  "Journal."  The  same 
gentleman  communicated  to  the  "  Newark  Daily  Advertiser," 
in  a  letter  of  the  date  of  August  23,  1873,  a  description  of  some 
pamphlets  recently  found  by  him  in  the  course  of  his  anti- 
quarian researches,  and  among  these  pamphlets  is  one  with 
the  following  title-page  :  "  The  Military  Glory  of  Great  Britain, 
an  Entertainment  given  by  the  late  candidates  for  Bachelor's 
degrees,  at  the  close  of  the  Anniversary  Commencement,  in 
Nassau  Hall,  New  Jersey,  September  29,  1762.  Philadelphia: 
printed  by  Wm.  Bradford,  MDCCLXII."  Dr.  Tuttle  quaintly 
remarks  that  "  the  careful  reader  of  this  poetical  drama  will  be 
convinced  that  Shakspeare  and  Ben  Jonson  are  in  no  danger 
from  this  competitor."  But  our  object  in  referring  to  it  in 
connection  with  Dr.  Cutler's  remark  respecting  the  College 
stage  is  to  show  the  wide  range  given  to  College  exhibitions  in 
the  earlier  periods  of  the  College  history. 

The  Commencement  for  the  year  1788  was  held  on  Wednes- 
day, the  24th  of  September.  Dr.  Timothy  Johnes,  a  Trustee 
named  in  Governor  Belcher's  charter  of  the  College,  resigned 
his  seat  at  the  Board,  and  the  Rev.  Andrew  Hunter,  of  Wood- 
bury,  New  Jersey,  was  chosen  in  his  place.  The  thanks  of  the 
Board  were  tendered  to  Dr.  Johnes  "  for  his  long  and  faithful 
services." 

There  having  been  some  relaxation  permitted  during  and 
since  the  war  in  the  law  requiring  a  residence  of  two  years  in 
the  College  previous  to  receiving  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts,  it 
was  "  Ordered,  That  after  the  next  session  of  the  College  the 
law  be  strictly  enforced." 

Mr.  Isaac  Snowden,  Jr.,  was  chosen  Treasurer  of  the  College, 
and  took  the  oaths  of  office. 

Mr.  Imlay  having  resigned  his  position  of  Tutor,  Mr.  Van- 
cleve  and  Mr.  Samuel  Harris  were  chosen  Tutors  by  the  Board, 
and  were  qualified  as  required  by  the  charter. 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  in  regard  to  the 
Faculty : 


DR.   WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


349 


"  Whereas  regular  Professorships  are  now  established  in  this  institution,  it  is 
therefore  resolved  and  ordered,  That  the  president  and  professors  form  the  faculty, 
and  that  the  government  of  the  College  be  vested  in  the  said  faculty,  whose  authority 
shall  extend  to  every  part  of  the  discipline,  except  the  final  expulsion  of  a  student, 
which  shall  not  take  place  unless  by  the  order  of  this  board,  or  unless  six  trustees 
shall  have  been  convened  for  the  purpose,  and  their  consent  obtained." 

The  Commencement  for  1790  took  place  on  Wednesday,  the 
28th  of  September.  Fourteen  candidates  were  admitted  to  their 
first  degree  in  the  Arts. 

"  It  was  ordered,  That  the  names  of  Mr.  James  Bayard,  Thomas  H.  McCalla, 
James  Crawford,  and  James  Brownfield,  omitted  to  be  inserted  in  the  catalogue  for 
the  year  1777,  be  now  inserted  in  their  proper  place." 

The  Rev.  Ashbel  Green  was  chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the  room  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Duffield,  deceased,  and  the  Rev.  James  Armstrong, 
in  the  room  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Miller,  resigned. 

Dr.  McWhorter,  from  the  committee  appointed  to  settle  with 
Elisha  Boudinot,  Esq.,  executor  of  Mrs.  Esther  Richards,  re- 
ported that  they  had  made  a  partial  settlement  of  the  legacy 
left  by  that  lady  to  the  College,  and  that  they  had  received  from 
Mr.  Boudinot,  in  loan-office  certificates,  of  the  date  of  1 778,  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  of  the  date  of  1779,  three  hundred  dollars, 
which  he  is  directed  to  pay  to  the  Treasurer. 

The  thanks  of  the  Board  were  presented  to  Mr.  Boudinot  for 
his  care  and  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  College  in  ascer- 
taining and  securing  the  legacy  left  by  Mrs.  Richards  to  this 
institution.  Mr.  Silas  Wood  was  chosen  a  Tutor  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Harris,  deceased. 

"  It  was  ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  provide  a  folio  book,  in  which  shall  be  re- 
corded the  benefactions  which  have  been,  and  may  be,  at  different  times,  made  to 
this  College,  with  the  names  of  the  benefactors." 

Most  of  the  philosophical  apparatus  belonging  to  the  Col- 
lege having  been  destroyed  or  carried  off  during  the  late  war, 
the  Board  "  resolved  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  procure 
such  a  sum  of  money  as  shall  be  adequate  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency." 

The  Commencement  for  1791  took  place  on  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  the  Board  met,  according  to  adjournment,  on  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

preceding  day,  Governor  Patterson,  President  Witherspoon,  and 
eighteen  other  Trustees  being  present.  Twenty-five  candidates 
were  admitted  to  their  first  degree  in  the  Arts.  The  degree  of 
LL.D.  was  conferred  upon  the  Hon.  Thomas  Jefferson,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  also  upon  the  Hon.  Alexander  Hamilton, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

A  committee  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  waited  upon  the  Board  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 
fund  for  the  education  of  pious  youth,  which  was  deposited  in 
the  treasury  of  the  College,  the  interest  of  this  fund  having  been 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, now  the  General  Assembly.  The  Board,  not  being  pre- 
pared at  once  to  give  a  definite  answer  to  the  committee  from  the 
General*  Assembly,  appointed  a  committee  of  five  members  to 
inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  fund,  and  to  report  to  the  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Irwin,  the  Chairman  of  the  Assembly's  committee. 
The  College  committee  consisted  of  Dr.  Harris,  Dr.  Boudinot, 
Jonathan  B.  Smith,  Esq.,  Isaac  Snowden,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  Green, 
all  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  was 
chosen  a  Trustee,  in  the  room  of  Governor  Patterson,  who,  in 
virtue  of  his  office  as  Governor  of  the  State,  was  the  President 
of  the  Board. 

Mr.  Isaac  Snowden,  Jr.,  having  resigned  the  office  of  Treas- 
urer, Mr.  John  Harrison,  of  Princeton,  was  chosen  Treasurer  of 
the  College.  The  Board  resolved  to  renew  their  application  to 
Congress  for  a  reimbursement  of  damages  sustained  by  the 
College  during  the  war,  and  for  rent  while  it  was  used  for  the 
service  of  the  United  States ;  and  Dr.  Boudinot,  Dr.  Green,  and 
Mr.  Jonathan  Bayard  Smith  were  the  committee  to  make  the 
application. 

A  committee  was  also  appointed  to  make  another  revision  of 
the  laws  of  the  College. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  Tuesday,  the 
25th  of  September,  1792,  and  on  the  following  day  the  usual 
Commencement  exercises  took  place,  and  the  first  degree  in  the 
Arts  was  conferred  upon  thirty-seven  graduates.  This  is  the 
largest  number  ever  graduated  at  this  College  up  to  this  date, 
and  for  several  years  after. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


351 


"  The  committee  appointed  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board,  in  September  last,  to 
examine  into  the  whole  stock  of  the  College,  and  bring  forward  the  accounts  to 
April,  1792,"  made  a  report  through  their  chairman,  Dr.  Boudinot.  "The  report 
was  approved,  and  the  same  committee  continued,  and  directed  to  endeavor  to  make 
a  final  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board." 

"  A  copy  of  the  Will  of  Mr.  James  Leslie,  of  New  York,  leaving  a  certain  legacy 
to  the  Direction  of  the  Trustees  of  New  Jersey  College,  for  the  education  of  poor 
and  pious  youth  with  a  view  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
was  produced  to  the  Board.  Ordered,  That  the  same  be  recorded  at  large  in  the 
book  to  be  appropriated  to  record  all  Donations  to  this  College." 

On  the  2Oth  of  August,  1793,  there  was  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Board  to  consider  a  proposal,  or  suggestion,  from  the  Trus- 
tees of  Queen's  College,  New  Brunswick,  in  reference  to  a  union 
of  the  two  colleges.  The  minutes  relative  to  this  matter  are  the 
following: 

"A  letter  was  laid  before  the  Board  from  Archibald  Mercer,  Esq.,  in  the  follow- 
ing terms :  '  In  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Queen's  College  in  New  Jersey,  Resolved, 
That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  or  a  committee  of  said  trustees,  on  the  subject  of  a  federal  union  between 
the  Colleges. 

•' '  Ordered,  That  the  committee  consist  of  General  Frelinghuysen,  Dr.  Linn,  A. 
Mercer,  A.  Kirkpatrick,  and  James  Schureman,  Esqrs. 

"  '  JAMES  SCHUREMAN,  Clerk. 

" '  SIR, — I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  convey  to  you  the  above  resolution  of 
Queen's  College,  being,  with  respect, 

"  '  Your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"'ARCHIBALD  MERCER,  President  P.  T. 

" '  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  WITHERSPOON,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey.' 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  this  Board  be  appointed  to  meet  with  the  com- 
mittee above  appointed  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  of  Queen's  College,  or  with  the 
Board  of  said  Trustees,  and  confer  with  them  on  the  subject  of  an  union  of  the  two 
colleges,  who  shall  lay  the  result  of  their  conference  before  this  Board  at  their  next 
meeting;  and 

"Resolved,  That  the  committee  consist  of  the  following  gentlemen:  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Dr.  Boudinot,  Dr.  Beatty,  Colonel  Bayard,  and  Mr.  Woodhull. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  President  transmit  a  copy  of  the  above  resolution  to  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Queen's  College." 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board,  which  occurred  on 
Wednesday,  the  25th  of  September,  the  day  of  the  annual 
Commencement,  the  committee  made  their  report,  which  was 
as  follows : 


352        HlSl^ORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

"NEW  BRUNSWICK,  September  10,  1793. 

"  The  committees  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  Queen's 
College,  appointed  to  confer  upon  the  subject  of  a  union  between  the  two  colleges, 
met  here  this  day,  in  pursuance  of  notice  previously  given  for  that  purpose,  viz. :  • 

"From  the  College  of  New  Jersey. — The  Rev.  John  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  the 
Rev.  John  Woodhull,  Elias  Boudinot,  John  Bayard,  Esqrs. 

"  From  Queen's  College. — Archibald  Mercer,  Frederick  Frelinghuysen,  James 
Schureman,  Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  Esqrs. 

"The  committees  appointed  Elias  Boudinot,  Esq.,  Chairman,  Andrew  Kirk- 
patrick, Esq.,  Clerk,  and  then  went  into  a  free  conference  on  the  subject  of  the 
proposed  union :  whereupon, 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  a  perfect  incorporating  and  consolidating  union 
between  the  two  colleges  will  be  the  most  proper  and  beneficial  union,  and  will 
tend  to  the  promotion  of  learning. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  in  order  to  effect  this  union  application  be  made 
by  both  colleges  to  the  legislature  for  a  new  charter;  that  the  trustees  to  be  named 
in  the  new  charter  consist  of  twenty-eight  in  number.  That  is  to  say,  the  Governor 
of  the  State  for  the  time  being,  the  President  of  the  college  for  the  time  being,  and 
thirteen  of  the  trustees  of  each  of  the  said  colleges,  being  inhabitants  of  New 
Jersey,  to  be  chosen  and  named  by  their  respective  boards. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  no  person  not  an  inhabitant  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  shall  at  any  time  be  a  trustee  of  the  college  so  to  be  constituted. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  an  institution  at  New  Brunswick  be  established 
and  supported  by  the  bye-laws  of  the  trustees  of  the  said  college,  in  which  shall 
be  taught  the  learning  preparatory  to  entering  the  first  class  in  the  college,  and 
that  no  other  institution  at  Princeton  shall  be  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  said 
trustees  in  which  the  same  things  shall  be  taught. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  present  officers  of  New  Jersey  College  be  the 
officers  of  the  college  to  be  established  on  the  foregoing  principles. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  submitted  to  the  boards  of  trustees 
of  the  said  two  colleges,  by  their  respective  committees,  for  their  consideration. 

"  ELIAS  BOUDINOT,  Chairman." 

The  consideration  of  this  report  was  postponed  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Board.  As  there  was  a  bare  quorum  present, 
it  was  deemed  inexpedient  to  decide  so  important  a  measure 
as  that  presented  in  the  report  of  the  two  committees,  and  for 
this  reason  the  consideration  of  it  was  deferred,  and  the  Presi- 
dent was  authorized  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Board  when  in  his 
judgment  circumstances  would  justify  it.  The  small  number  in 
attendance  at  this  meeting  was  due  to  the  general  panic  in  the 
community  occasioned  by  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in 
Philadelphia. 

Twenty-one  members  of  the  Senior  class  were  admitted  to 
their  first  degree  in  the  Arts. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


353 


Mr.  John  Abeel,  one  of  the  Tutors,  having  resigned  his  office, 
the  Faculty  were  authorized  to  appoint  another  in  his  room,  if 
they  find  it  necessary. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Princeton,  on  the 
1 3th  of  December,  1793.  The  first  business,  after  reading  the 
minutes  of  the  previous  meeting,  was  the  reading  of  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  Archibald  Mercer,  Esq.: 

"  MILLSTONE,  November  20,  1793. 

"  SIR, — The  trustees  of  Queen's  College  met  yesterday,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  inform 
you,  wholly  rejected  the  report  of  the  committees  respecting  the  proposed  union  of 
the  Colleges. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  with  the  utmost  respect, 
"  Your  obliged  humble  servant, 

"  ARCHIBALD  MERCER,  P.  P.  T. 

"  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey." 

Thus  ended  this  negotiation,  and  no  further  action  was  taken 
in  regard  to  it  by  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
The  writer  thinks  it  doubtful  whether  the  Trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  would  have  given  their  consent  to  the 
proposed  union  had  they  discussed  the  measure  and  taken  a 
vote  on  the  proposed  plan, — one  most  extraordinary  feature  of 
this  plan  being  that  which  compels  every  trustee  of  the  united 
colleges  to  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  inas- 
much as  some  of  the  most  valuable  trustees  of  these  institutions 
were  residents  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  had  been  so 
from  the  beginning. 

It  is  known  that  Dr.  Witherspoon,  after  accepting  the  office 
of  President  of  this  College  but  before  coming  to  this  country, 
made  a  visit  to  Holland  in  the  interests  of  the  College,  but 
what  special  objects  he  had  in  view  are  not  clearly  known. 
But  while  in  Holland  he  visited  Utrecht,  where  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Livingston,  then  a  student  of  theology,  was  pursuing 
his  professional  studies,  and  they  had  an  interview  and  a  con- 
versation in  reference  to  the  proper  policy  to  be  pursued  in 
America  by  the  friends  of  true  religion  and  sound  learning,  and 
came  to  an  understanding  that  they  would  favor  the  adoption 
of  a  scheme  according  to  which  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
should  establish  a  theological  professorship  of  their  own,  but 


354       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

that  for  the  academical  education  of  their  youth  they  should 
avail  themselves  of  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  College  at 
Princeton.  But  this  measure  did  not  meet  the  views  of  the 
larger  party  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  which  at  the  time 
of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  arrival  in  this  country  had  taken  meas- 
ures for  obtaining  a  charter  for  a  college  to  be  under  the  control 
of  members  of  their  own  Church,  and  in  1770  they  succeeded 
in  obtaining  from  Governor  Franklin  and  his  Council  such  a 
charter.  (See  Judge  Bradley's  Centennial  Discourse  at  Rutgers 
College  in  1870.) 

The  friends  of  both  institutions  at  this  day  can  probably  see 
that  it  was  better  for  the  interests  of  religion  and  learning  that 
th.e  negotiations  for  a  union  of  the  two  colleges  were  unsuc- 
cessful. Each  college  has  done  a  great  and  good  work  for  the 
best  interests  of  both  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  it  is  hoped 
they  will  continue  to  be  generous  rivals  in  this  good  work,  and 
be  able  to  increase  in  usefulness  as  they  advance  in  age,  wealth, 
and  members. 

Mr.  William  P.  Smith  having  tendered  his  resignation  as  a 
Trustee,  it  was  accepted,  and  the  thanks  of  the  Board  were 
tendered  to  him  for  his  long  and  faithful  services.  Mr.  Smith 
was  a  Trustee  for  forty-five  years. 

The  Hon.  William  Patterson  was  chosen  a  Trustee  in  the 
room  of  Mr.  Smith,  resigned,  and  the  Rev.  Jacob  Van  Arsdalen 
and  Joseph  Bloomfield,  Esq.,  were  chosen  in  the  place  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith  and  the  Rev.  Israel  Read,  deceased. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  the  Committee  on  Ac- 
counts presented  a  brief  account,  and  the  Committee  was 
continued. 

"A  question  having  arisen,  whether  this  corporation  have  a 
right  to  appropriate  the  charity  of  Mr.  Leslie  to  defray  the 
expense  of  the  maintenance  and  clothing  as  well  as  of  the 
instruction  of  poor  and  pious  youth  for  the  gospel  ministry,  it 
was  determined  by  the  corporation  that  they  have  this  right."* 


*  A  report  was  made  to  the  Board,  at  this  meeting,  of  the  certificates  deposited  in 
the  office  of  James  Ewing,  Esq.,  Commissioner  for  New  Jersey.  The  amounts  of 
these  certificates  were  as  follows : 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


355 


Mr.  Silas  Wood  having  resigned  the  office  of  Tutor,  Mr. 
David  English  was  elected  a  Tutor  in  his  room. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  on  the  23d  and  24th 
of  September,  1794,  and  it  was  the  last  meeting  ever  attended 
by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  who  died  a  few  weeks  after. 

The  Commencement  exercises  took  place  on  the  24th.  The 
number  of  candidates  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the  Arts 
was  twenty-seven. 

Dr.  Rodgers  made  a  report  of  the  moneys  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Leslie's  executors  in  New  York,  from  which  it  appeared 
that  they  had  in  their  possession  bank  shares  and  bonds,  and 
cash  to  the  value  of  ,£711.15.1  New  York  currency.*  There 
were  also  two  houses  in  the  city  of  New  York,  value  uncertain. 

The  Committee  on  Accounts  was  continued. 

The  Faculty  of  the  College,  finding  their  salaries  insufficient 
for  the  support  of  their  families,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
increase  in  the  prices  of  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  which  are 
from  twenty-five  to  ten  per  cent,  higher  than  they  were  two  or 
three  years  ago,  request  the  Board  to  devise  some  means  of 
augmenting  their  salaries  in  proportion  to  the  augmentation 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  price  of  grain. 

MR.  JAMES  LESLIE'S  LEGACY. 

One  certificate,  six  per  cents $4,364.32 

"           "          three  per  cents 2,273.41 

"           "          deferred  stock      ....  4,039.76 


^10,677.49 

MRS.  RICHARDS'S  LEGACY. 

One  certificate,  six  per  cents.        ....         $1,119.15 
"  "          three  per  cents.    ....  1,291.60 

"  "          deferred  stock      ....  559-57 

$2,970.32 

COLLEGE  FUNDS. 

One  certificate,  six  per  cents.        ....  $3,404.63 

"           "          three  per  cents 1,643.47 

"           "          deferred  stock      ....  402.31 


*  "  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers  be  empowered  to  receive  whatever 
sums  are  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Leslie's  executors  in  the  city  of  New  York." 


356       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

This  the  Faculty  conceived  might  be  done  "  without  encroach- 
ing on  the  College  funds  destined  for  other  purposes,  by  in- 
creasing the  tuition,  etc.,  of  the  students.  This  it  is  hoped  will 
appear  neither  unreasonable  nor  improper  to  the  Trustees,  as 
they  have  found  it  both  reasonable  and  necessary  to  raise  the 
price  of  board  with  the  Steward  fifty  per  cent,  within  a  few 
years." 

The  Trustees  postponed  the  final  decision  of  this  subject  to 
the  next  meeting. 

Dr.  Rodgers  was  desired  to  request  the  executors  of  Mr. 
Leslie,  in  New  York,  to  invest  the  whole  property  coming  to 
the  College  in  stock  of  the  Bank  of  New  York,  and  to  transfer 
the  same  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College. 

The  Treasurer  reported  that  he  had  received  from  seventy- 
nine  students,  for  tuition-fees  and  room-rent,  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars;  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
annual  charge  for  tuition  and  rent  of  room  to  each  student 
was  a  little  less  than  thirty  dollars,  being  eleven  pounds  New 
Jersey  currency. 

The  Committee  on  Accounts  made  a  report,  and  was  con- 
tinued, in  order  to  bring  up  the  accounts  to  the  present  date. 

The  foregoing  detail  shows  the  great  difficulties  with  which 
the  College  had  to  contend  throughout  the  administration  of 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  the  strenuous  efforts  made  to  meet  and 
overcome  them.  These  difficulties  might  all  have  been  summed 
up  in  a  few  words, — a  want  of  funds  and  a  want  of  students ;  both 
of  these  wants  being  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  impoverished 
condition  of  the  country  consequent  upon  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution. At  the  time  Dr.  Witherspoon  took  charge  of  the  Col- 
lege it  was  much  embarrassed  for  want  of  funds,  and  the  ener- 
getic measures  adopted  to  supply  this  want  gave  good  ground 
to  hope  that  this  hindrance  to  the  success  and  usefulness  of  the 
institution  would  soon  be  removed.  But  shortly  after  began 
the  political  troubles  which  ended  in  a  change  of  government, 
and  which  finally  gave  freedom  and  independence  to  the  coun- 
try, laying  the  foundation  of  its  subsequent  prosperity,  but,  as 
their  immediate  result,  producing  for  several  years  great  finan- 
cial embarrassment. 


DR.   WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


357 


It  is  believed  that  no  general  statement  of  the  affairs  of  the 
institution  can  make  so  deep  an  impression,  respecting  the 
trials  and  struggles  to  which  the  President,  Trustees,  and  other 
officers  and  friends  of  the  College  were  subjected  during  this 
period  of  its  history,  as  a  recital  of  their  constant  and  untiring 
efforts  in  its  behalf;  and  this  is  our  apology,  if  one  be  needed, 
for  dwelling  so  long  upon  these  things. 

But  there  is  a  brighter  side  to  this  picture  of  College  affairs. 
For  notwithstanding  all  the  impediments  in  the  way,  occasioned 
by  the  dispersion  of  the  students,  the  occupation  and  dilapida- 
tion of  the  College  building  by  both  British  and  American 
soldiery,  the  destruction  of  property  and  of  funds,  and  the 
injury  done  to  the  apparatus  and  the  library,  in  as  short  a  time 
as  possible  the  College  was  again  opened  for  the  reception  of 
students,  and  more  ample  provision  than  ever  before  was  made 
for  the  thorough  instruction  of  the  pupils  in  all  those  branches 
which  in  that  day  claimed  the  attention  of  college  youth. 

Although  the  College  exercises  were  for  a  time  suspended, 
yet  every  year  there  were  some  candidates  for  the  first  degree 
in  the  Arts, — whose  names  are  given  in  the  Triennial  Catalogue 
of  the  College;  the  smallest  number  being  jive,  in  1778,  and 
the  largest  thirty-seven,  in  1792.  And  although  the  average 
number  of  graduates  did  not  exceed  nineteen  a  year,  there  is 
probably  no  period  in  the  history  of  the  institution  during 
which  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  students,  in  after-life,  rose 
to  distinction.  This  may  be  accounted  for  in  part  by  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  country,  which  called  forth  all  the  energies 
of  which  these  men  were  possessed,  but  still  not  a  little  may 
be  claimed  for  the  training  which  they  here  received  under 
their  able  and  patriotic  teachers. 

Of  the  four  hundred  and  sixty-nine  graduates  of  the  College  from  1769  to  1794, 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  became  ministers  of  the  gospel,  of  whom  seventy-five 
were  graduated  from  1769  to  1776.  After  the  war  began,  the  candidates  for  the 
ministry  were  much  fewer  in  number  in  proportion  to  the  whole  than  they  were 
before  that  event.  Many  of  these  ministers,  who  were  trained  under  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  and  his  associates  in  the  Faculty,  became  prominent  and  influential  men  in 
the  Church  and  in  the  community  at  large.  Among  them  were  the  following-named 
Presidents  and  Professors  of  Colleges  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States.  The 
names  are  given  in  the  order  of  their  graduation.  Of  the  class  of 


358        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

1769.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith, — Dr.  Witherspoon's  successor  in  the  Presidency 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

1772.  Andrew  Hutiter,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in  the  same 
College. 

1772.  Samuel  Eusebius  McCorkle,  Professor  of  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy 
in  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 

1772.  John  McMillan,  Vice-President  of  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  ar.cl 
Professor  of  Theology  in  the  same  College. 

1773.  Thaddeus  Dod,  the  Founder  and   President  of  Washington  Academy, 
afterwards  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania. 

1773.  James  Dunlap,  President  of  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania. 
1773.  William  Graham,  Founder  and   President  of  Liberty  Hall,  afterwards 
Washington  College,  Virginia. 

1773.  John  McKnight,  President  of  Dickinson  College,  Pennsylvania. 

1773.  John  Blair  Smith,  President  of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia,  and 
also  of  Union  College,  Schenectady,  New  York. 

1774.  Thomas    Harris    Maccaulle,   President   of    Mount    Sion    College,   South 
Carolina. 

1775.  Samuel  Doak,  President  of  Washington  College,  Tennessee. 

1783.  Ashbel  Green,  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

1784.  IraCondit,  Vice-President  of  Queen's  College,  now  Rutgers,  New  Jersey, 
and  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  same. 

1787.  Robert  Finley,  President  of  the  University' of  Georgia. 
1787.  Elijah  D.   Rattoone,  President  of  Charleston  College,   South   Carolina, 
and  a  Presbyter  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

1789.  Robert  Helt  Chapman,  President  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 
1791.  Joseph  Caldwell,  President  of  the  same  University  before  Dr.  Chapman. 

1793.  John  Henry  Hobart,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  New 
York,  and  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology  and  Pulpit  Eloquence  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

1794.  Henry  Kollock,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

Some  of  those  here  named  were  eminent  as  preachers  of  the  gospel  as  well  as 
teachers  in  the  higher  seminaries  of  learning. 

To  this  list  may  be  added  the  names  of  not  a  few  others  who  were  men  of  note 
as  able  and  successful  pastors  of  churches,  e.g.  : 

1769.  Samuel  Niles,  at  Abington,  Massachusetts. 

1769.  Elihu  Thayer,  at  Kingston,  New  Hampshire. 

1770.  Nathaniel  Irwin,  at  Neshaminy,  Pennsylvania. 

1770.  Nathan  Perkins,  at  West  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

1771.  John  Black,  at  Upper  Mars  Creek,  York  County,  Pennsylvania. 

1771.  Samuel  Spring,  at  Newburyport,  Massachusetts. 

1772.  Joseph  Eckley,  at  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
1772.  James  Grier,  at  Deep  Run,  Pennsylvania. 

1772.  William  Linn,  at  New  York  City,  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

1773.  John  Francis  Armstrong,  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey  ;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 
1773.  Ebenezer  Bradford,  at  Rowley,  Massachusetts. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


359 


1773.  Lewis  Feuilleteau  Wilson,  at  Concord,  North  Carolina. 

1774.  Stephen  Bloomer  Balch,  at  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia. 

1774.  James  Hall,  at  Fourth  Creek,  Concord,  and  Bethany,  North  Carolina. 

1775.  John  Durburrow  Blair,  at  Richmond,  Virginia. 
1775.  Isaac  Stockton  Keith,  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
1775.  James  McCrie,  at  Steel  Creek,  North  Carolina. 
1775.  John  Springer,  at  Washington,  Georgia. 

1778.  William  Boyd,  at  Lamington,  New  Jersey;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 
1781.  Joseph  Clark,  at  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey;  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 

1783.  Gilbert  Tennent  Snowden,  at  Cranbury,  New  Jersey. 

1784.  Joseph  Clay,  at  Savannah,  Georgia;  Baptist  Church. 

1787.  John  Nelson  Abeel,  at  New  York;  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

1788.  Aaron  Condict,  at  Hanover,  New  Jersey. 

1789.  Thomas  Pitt  Irving,  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland;  Principal  of  the  Academy 
there,  and  Rector  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

1790.  George  Spafford  Woodhull,  at  Princeton,  and  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 
1793.  Isaac  Van  Dorem,  at  Hopewell,  New  York;  Reformed  Dutch  Church, 

and  afterwards  Principal  of  the  Newark  Academy. 

Of  the  graduates  from  1769  to  1794  inclusive,  six  were  members  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  twenty  became  Senators  of  the  United  States,  and  twenty-three 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Of  the  class  of 

1769.  John  Beatty,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  New  Jersey. 

1769.  John  Henry,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  Maryland. 
1771.  Gunning  Bedford,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  Delaware. 

1771.  James  Madison,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  Virginia. 
1773.  Morgan  Lewis,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  New  York. 

1773.  Henry  Lee,  Delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  from  Virginia. 

UNITED    STATES   SENATORS. 

1770.  Frederick  Frelinghuysen,  from  New  Jersey. 

1772.  Aaron  Burr,  from  New  York. 

1773.  Aaron  Ogden,  from  New  Jersey. 

1774.  John  Ewing  Calhoun,  from  South  Carolina. 

1774.  Jonathan  Mason,  from  Massachusetts. 

1775.  Isaac  Tichenor,  from  Vermont. 

1776.  Jonathan  Dayton,  from  New  Jersey. 
1776.  John  Rutherford,  from  New  York. 

1779.  Richard  Stockton,  from  New  Jersey. 

1780.  Abraham  R.  Venable,  from  Virginia. 

1781.  William  Branch  Giles,  from  Virginia. 
1781.  Edward  Livingston,  from  Louisiana. 

1784.  James  Ashton  Bayard,  from  Delaware. 

1785.  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  from  Maryland. 

1788.  David  Stone,  from  North  Carolina. 

1789.  Mahlon  Dickerson,  from  New  Jersey. 

1 790.  John  Taylor,  from  South  Carolina. 


360        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

1791.  Jacob  Burnet,  from  Ohio. 

1792.  George  M.  Bibb,  from  Kentucky. 

1794.  George  Washington  Campbell,  from  Tennessee. 

MEMBERS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    HOUSE   OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 
1769.  James  Linn,  from  New  Jersey. 
1772.  David  Bard,  from  Pennsylvania. 

1774.  Win.  Stevens  Smith,  from  New  York. 

1775.  John  Andrew  Scudder,  from  New  Jersey. 

1776.  Nathaniel  Alexander,  from  North  Carolina. 
1776.  John  W.  Kittera,  from  Pennsylvania. 

..     1781.  William  Crawford,  from  Pennsylvania. 
1782.  Conrad  Elmendorf,  from  New  York. 
1782.  John  A.  Hanna,  from  Pennsylvania. 

1784.  Peter  R.  Livingston,  from  New  York. 

1785.  James  Wilken,  from  New  York. 

1786.  John  Henderson  Imlay,  from  New  Jersey. 

1787.  Evan  Alexander,  from  North  Carolina. 

1788.  Nathaniel  W.  Howell,  from  New  York. 
1788.  Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  from  New  York. 

1788.  Nicholas  Van  Dyke,  from  Delaware. 

1789.  Isaac  Pierson,  from  New  Jersey. 
1789.  Ephraim  King  Wilson,  from  Maryland. 
1789.  Silas  Wood,  from  New  York. 

1792.  Wm.  Chatwood,  from  New  Jersey. 
1792.  Peter  Early,  from  Georgia. 
1792.  George  C.  Maxwell,  from  New  Jersey. 
1794.  Thomas  M.  Bayly,  from  Virginia. 
1794.  James  M.  Broome,  from  Delaware. 

Of  the  above-named  members  of  Congress, 

James  Madison  was  the  fourth  President  of  the  United  States. 

Aaron  Burr  was  the  third  Vice-President. 

John  Henry  was  Governor  of  Maryland. 

Gunning  Bedford  was  Governor  of  Delaware. 

Henry  Lee  was  Governor  of  Virginia. 

Morgan  Lewis  was  Governor  of  New  York. 

Aaron  Ogden  was  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

Isaac  Tichenor  was  Governor  of  Vermont. 

Nathaniel  Alexander  was  Governor  of  North  Carolina. 

Wm.  Branch  Giles  was  Governor  of  Virginia. 

David  Stone  was  Governor  of  North  Carolina. 

Mahlon  Dickerson  was  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 

John  Taylor  was  Governor  of  South  Carolina. 

Peter  Early  was  Governor  of  Georgia. 

And  to  this  list  of  Governors  of  several  of  the  States  may  be  added  William 
Richardson  Davie,  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  also  Envoy,  with  Ellsworth,  an 
older  graduate,  to  P'rance. 


DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


361 


Of  the  graduates  of  this  period,  three  became  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  viz. :  of  the  class  of — 

1774.  Brockholst  Livingston,  of  New  York. 
1788.  Smith  Thompson,  of  New  York. 

1790.  William  Johnson,  of  South  Carolina. 

Not  a  few  others  became  distinguished, — some  for  their  culture  of  letters,  some 
for  their  medical  skill  and  knowledge,  others  for  their  legal  attainments  and 
as  judges,  some  as  army  officers,  and  others  still  as  active  and  useful  citizens. 
Of  these,  without  undertaking  to  mention  all,  the  following  include  the  best- 
known  : 

1770.  James  Witherspoon,  of  New  Jersey,  son  of  President  Witherspoon,  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Germantown. 

1771.  Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge,  of  Pennsylvania,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
1771.  Charles  McKnight,  of  New  York,  Surgeon-General  of  the  United  States 

Army. 

1771.  Donald  Campbell,  of  New  York,  Colonel  in  the  United  States  Army. 

1771.  Philip  Freneau,  of  New  Jersey,  Poet,  and  Writer  on  Politics. 

1772.  Win.  Bradford,  of  Pennsylvania,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States. 

1773.  Hugh  Hodge,  of  Pennsylvania,  Physician,  Surgeon  in  the  United  States 
Army. 

1774.  John  Noble  Gumming,  of  New  Jersey,  General  in  the  Army. 

1775.  Andrew  Kirkpatrick,  of  New  Jersey,  Chief  Justice. 

1775.  Charles  Lee,  of  Virginia,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States. 
1775.  Spruce  Macay,  of  North  Carolina,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 

1775.  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  M.D.,  of  New  York,  Physician,  and  Professor  in 
Columbia  College. 

1776.  John  Pintard,  of  New  York,  chief  founder  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society. 

1777.  John  Young  Noel,  of  Georgia,  Lawyer  of  much  eminence. 

1778.  Jacob  Morton,  of  New  York,  Justice  of  the  City  Court,  etc. 

1779.  Andrew  Bayard,  of  Pennsylvania,  Trustee  of  the  College. 
1779.  Matthew  McCallister,  of  Georgia,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 
1779.  James  Riddle,  of  Pennsylvania,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

1779.  Aaron  Dickinson  Woodruff,  of  New  Jersey,  Attorney-General. 

1780.  Ebenezer  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey,  Physician,  Assistant-Surgeon  in  the 
United  States  Army. 

1783.  Nathaniel  Lawrence,  of  New  York,  Attorney-General. 
1783.  Jacob  Radcliff,  of  New  York,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

1783.  George  Whitefield  Woodruff,  of  Georgia,  Attorney-General. 

1784.  Gabriel  Ford,  of  New  Jersey,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

1784.  Samuel  Bayard,  of  New  Jersey,  Trustee  and  Treasurer  of  the  College. 

1785.  John  Vernon  Henry,  of  New  York,  Lawyer,  Doctor  of  Laws. 

1786.  Charles  Smith,  of  New  Jersey,  Physician,  Trustee  of  Queen's  College. 

1788.  John  Wells,  of  New  York,  Lawyer,  Doctor  of  Laws. 

1789.  David  Hosack,  of  New  York,  Professor  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  Doctor  of  Laws. 

1791.  Elias  Van  Artsdale,  of  New  Jersey,  Lawyer,  Doctor  of  Laws. 
VOL.  I. — 24 


362        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

1792.  Charles  Wilson  Harris,  of  North  Carolina,  Professor  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  and  afterwards  an  eminent  lawyer. 

1792.  John  C.  Otto,  of  Pennsylvania,  Vice-President  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians. 

1793.  John  Neilson,  of  New  York,  Physician. 

1794.  John  N.  Simpson,  of  New  Jersey,  an  efficient  friend  of  popular  educa- 
tion and  internal  improvements. 

Of  the  graduates  named  above  as  admitted  to  their  first  degree,  from  1769  to  1780 
inclusive,  more  than  twenty  were  officers  in  the  United  States  Army  during  the  War 
for  Independence,  and  all  of  them  young  men. 

Of  the  course  of  instruction  in  the  year  1772,  and  of  the  government  of  the  Col- 
lege, Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jamaica  and  other  West 
India  islands,  gives  the  following  account:  "The  regular  course  of  instruction  is 
in  four  classes,  exactly  after  the  manner  and  bearing  the  names  of  the  classes  in 
the  English  Universities, — Freshman,  Sophomore,  Junior,  and  Senior.  In  the  first 
year  they  read  Latin  and  Greek,  with  Roman  and  Grecian  antiquities,  and  Rhetoric. 
In  the  second,  continuing  the  study  of  the  languages,  they  learn  a  complete  system 
of  geography,  with  the  use  of  the  globes,  the  first  principles  of  philosophy,  and  the 
elements  of  mathematical  knowledge.  The  third,  though  the  languages  are  not 
wholly  omitted,  is  chiefly  employed  in  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy.  And 
the  senior  year  is  employed  in  reading  the  higher  classics,  proceeding  in  the  mathe- 
matics and  natural  philosophy,  and  going  through  a  course  of  moral  philosophy. 
In  addition  to  these,  the  President  gives  lectures  to  the  juniors  and  seniors,  which, 
consequently,  every  student  hears  twice  over  in  his  course, — first  upon  chronology 
and  history,  and  afterwards  upon  composition  and  criticism.  He  also  taught  the 
French  language  last  winter,  and  it  will  continue  to  be  taught  to  those  who  desire 
to  learn  it. 

"  During  the  whole  course  of  their  studies,  the  three  younger  classes,  two  every 
evening  formerly,  and  now  three,  because  of  their  increased  number,  pronounce  an 
oration,  on  the  stage  erected  for  that  purpose  in  the  hall,  immediafely  after  prayers ; 
that  they  may  learn,  by  early  habit,  presence  of  mind,  and  proper  pronunciation  and 
gesture  in  public  speaking.  This  excellent  practice,  which  has  been  kept  up 
almost  from  the  first  foundation  of  the  College,  has  had  the  most  admirable  effects. 
The  senior  scholars,  every  five  or  six  weeks,  pronounce  orations  of  their  own  com- 
position, to  which  all  persons  of  any  note  in  the  neighborhood  are  invited  or 
admitted. 

"  The  College  is  now  furnished  with  all  the  most  important  helps  to  instruction. 
The  library  contains  a  very  large  collection  of  valuable  books.  The  lessons  of 
astronomy  are  given  upon  the  orrery  lately  invented  by  David  Rittenhouse,  Esq., 
which  is  reckoned  by  the  best  judges  the  most  excellent  in  its  kind  of  any  ever  yet 
produced ;  and  when  what  is  commissioned  and  now  upon  its  way  is  added  to  what 
the  College  already  possesses,  the  apparatus  for  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy 
will  be  equal  if  not  superior  to  any  on  the  continent. 

..."  There  is  a  fixed  annual  commencement  on  the  last  Wednesday  of  Sep- 
tember, when,  after  a  variety  of  public  exercises,  always  attended  by  a  vast  con- 
course of  the  politest  company  from  different  parts  of  this  province  and  the  cities 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  the  students  whose  senior  year  is  expiring  are 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


363 


admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts ;  the  Bachelors  of  three  years'  standing 
to  the  degrees  of  Masters;  and  such  other  higher  degrees  granted  as  are  either  reg- 
ularly claimed  or  the  Trustees  think  proper  to  bestow  upon  those  who  have  distin- 
guished themselves  by  their  literary  productions  or  their  appearances  in  public  life. 

"On  the  day  preceding  the  commencement  last  year  [1771]  there  was  (and  it 
will  be  continued  hereafter)  a  public  exhibition  and  voluntary  competition  for 
prizes,  open  for  every  member  of  the  College.  These  were  first,  second,  and  third 
prizes  on  each  of  the  following  subjects:  i.  Reading  the  English  language  with 
propriety  and  grace,  and  being  able  to  answer  all  questions  on  its  orthography  and 
grammar.  2.  Reading  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  in  the  same  manner,  with 
particular  attention  to  true  quantity.  3.  Speaking  Latin.  4.  Latin  versions.  5. 
Pronouncing  English  orations.  The  preference  was  determined  by  ballot,  and  all 
present  permitted  to  vote  who  were  graduates  of  this  or  any  other  College. 

"  As  to  the  government  of  the  College,  no  correction  by  stripes  is  permitted. 
Such  as  cannot  be  governed  by  reason  and  the  principles  of  honor  and  shame  are 
reckoned  unfit  for  a  residence  in  a  college.  The  collegiate  censures  are,  I.  Private 
admonition  by  the  president,  professor,  or  tutor.  2.  Before  the  Faculty.  3.  Before 
the  whole  class  to  which  the  offender  belongs.  4.  The  last  and  highest,  before  all 
the  members  of  the  College  assembled  in  the  hall.  And,  to  preserve  the  weight 
and  dignity  of  these  censures,  it  has  been  an  established  practice  that  the  last  or 
highest  censure,  viz.,  public  admonition,  shall  never  be  repeated  upon  the  same 
person.  If  it  has  bee'n  thought  necessary  to  inflict  it  upon  any  one,  and  if  this  does- 
not  preserve  him  from  falling  into  such  gross  irregularities  a  second  time,  it  is  under- 
stood that  expulsion  is  immediately  to  follow. 

"  Through  the  narrowness  of  the  funds  the  government  and  instruction  has 
hitherto  been  carried  on  by  a  president  and  three  tutors.  At  the  last  commence- 
ment the  trustees  chose  a  professor  of  mathematics ;  and  intend,  as  their  funds  are- 
raised,  to  have  a  greater  number  of  professorships,  and  carry  their  plan  to  as  great 
perfection  as  possible." 

These  extracts  give  a  clear  view  of  the  course  of  instruction' 
in  1772,  and  of  the  provision  made  for  conducting  it.  It  also' 
exhibits  the  opinions  then  held  as  to  the  principles  upon  which 
the  government  of  youth  in  a  college  should  proceed.  Before 
the  close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration  the  Faculty  was 
enlarged,  and  consisted  of  the  President,  the  Vice-President, 
who  was  also  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy, 
the  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  two 
Tutors. 

In  the  address  from  which  the  above  extracts  are  taken,  Dr. 
Witherspoon  does  not  mention  to  what  extent  religious  instruc- 
tion was  given  in  the  College  ;  but  apparently  assuming  that  this 
matter  was  fully  and  properly  attended  to,  he  disavows  for  him- 
self and  his  associates  any  intention  or  desire  to  proselyte  the 


364       HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

youth  of  denominations  other  than  their  own  to  the  peculiar 
and  distinctive  views  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  in  con- 
clusion on  this  head  he  adds,  "  It  has  been  and  shall  be  our 
care  to  use  every  means  in  our  power  to  make  them  good 
men  and  good  scholars;  and  if  this  be  the  case,  I  shall  hear 
of  their  future  character  and  usefulness  with  unfeigned  satis- 
faction, under  every  name  by  which  a  real  Protestant  can  be 
distinguished." 

THE   AMERICAN    WHIG   AND    CLIOSOPHIC    SOCIETIES. 

A  few  years  before  Dr.  Witherspoon's  accession  to  the  Presi- 
dency, and  certainly  as  early  as  the  years  1765  and  1766,  two 
literary  societies  were  organized  in  the  College,  under  the 
names  of  the  "  Well-Meaning"  and  "  Plain-Dealing"  Clubs.  In 
consequence  of  some  difficulties  arising  between  these  two  asso- 
ciations, they  were  both  required  to  suspend  their  meetings  and 
to  disband  their  organizations.  In  the  summer,  however,  of 
1769,  and  doubtless  with  the  consent  of  the  College  authorities, 
the  adherents  of  the  Plain-Dealing  Club  revived  their  associa- 
tion, under  the  name  of  the  "  American  Whig  Society ;"  and  in 
June,  1770,  the  members  of  the  Well-Meaning  Club  reorganized 
their  association,  and  took  the  name  of  the  "  Cliosophic  So- 
ciety." Tracing  its  origin  back  to  the  Well-Meaning,  the  Clio- 
sophic Society  held  its  hundredth  anniversary  in  June,  1865. 
Whereas  the  American  Whig  Society,  not  regarding  itself  as 
strictly  a  continuation  of  the  Plain-Dealing,  celebrated  its  cen- 
tennial anniversary  in  June,  1869. 

As  the  histories  of  these  Societies  have  been  given  to  the 
public  by  Professors  Giger  and  Cameron,  with  that  fulness  and 
general  accuracy  which  preclude  all  occasion  for  saying  any- 
thing further  in  regard  to  them,  the  writer  of  this  work  deems  it 
unnecessary  to  add  anything  to  what  they  have  so  well  said  re- 
specting the  Societies  of  which  they  were  the  chosen  historians. 

The  following-named  gentlemen  were  members  of  the  Faculty  during  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's administration,  from  1768  to  1794. 

John  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President,  and,  from  1769  to  1783,  Professor 
of  Divinity. 

John  Blair,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy  from  1767  to 
1769.' 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  365 

William  Churchill  Houston,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philos- 
ophy from  1771  to  1783. 

Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  from  1779  to  1795  ; 
Professor  of  Divinity  and  Moral  Philosophy  from  1783  to  1795;  Vice-President 
from  1786  to  1795. 

Ashbel  Green,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  from 
1785  to  1787. 

Walter  Minto,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  from 
1787  to  1796. 

James  Thompson,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1762  to  1770. 

Joseph  Periam,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1765  to  1766,  and  from  1767  to  1769. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1766  to  1769. 

Ebenezer  Pemberton,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1769  to  1769. 

William  Churchill  Houston,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1769  to  1771. 

Tapping  Reeve,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1769  to  1770. 

Richard  Devens,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1770  to  April,  1773 ;  and  again  from  Septem- 
ber, 1773,  to  1774. 

Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1770  to  1773. 

James  Grier,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1773  to  1774. 

John  Duffield,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1773  to  1775. 

Lewis  Feuilleteau  Wilson,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1774  to  1775. 

James  Dunlap,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1775  to  1777. 

John  Springer,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1775  to  1777. 

George  Faitoute,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1777  to  1777. 

From  1777  to  1781  there  were  no  Tutors.  The  few  students  in  College  during 
this  period  were  instructed  solely  by  the  President  and  Professors. 

James  Riddle,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1781  to  1783. 

Ashbel  Green,  A.B.,  Tutor  from  1783  to  1785. 

Samuel  Beach,  A.B.,  Tutor  from  1783  to  1785. 

Gilbert  Tennent  Snowden,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1785  to  1787. 

John  W.  Vancleve,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1787  to  1791. 

John  Henderson  Imlay,  A.B.,  Tutor  from  1787  to  1788. 

Samuel  Harris,  A.B.,  Tutor  from  1788  to  1789. 

Silas  Wood,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1789  to  1794. 

John  Nelson  Abeel,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1791  to  1793. 

Robert  Finley,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1793  to  1795. 

Charles  Snowden,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1793  to  1793. 

David  English,  A.M.,  Tutor  from  1794  to  1796. 

Most  of  the  gentlemen  named  here  as  Tutors  of  the  College  became  men  of 
much  note  in  the  Church  or  State ;  and  not  a  few  of  them  attained  to  great  dis- 
tinction in  their  several  professions.  For  further  information  respecting  them  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Triennial  Catalogue  of  the  College,  and  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Alexander's  "  Princeton  College." 

Of  those  gentlemen  who  were  Trustees  of  the  College  at  the  time  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  was  inaugurated  as  President,  only  two  were  members  of  the  Board  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  These  were  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  of  New  York  City,  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  there,  and  Dr.  William  Shippen,  founder  of  the 
first  medical  school  in  Philadelphia. 


366        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

The  following  were  chosen  Trustees  after  Dr.  Witherspoon's  accession  to  the 
Presidency :  viz.,  in 

1768.  William  Livingston,  Esq.;  from  1776,  ex  officio  President  of  the  Board, 
being  Governor  of  the  State. 

1769.  Rev.  John  Blair,  late  Vice-President  of  the  College. 

1769.  Rev.  James  Caldwell. 

1770.  Rev.  Jeremiah  Halsey. 
1772.  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith. 

1772.  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McWhorter. 
1772.  Elias  Boudinot,  Esq. 

1777.  Rev.  Dr.  George  Duffield. 

1778.  Rev.  Azel  Roe. 
1778.  Colonel  John  Bayard. 

1778.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Scudder. 

1779.  Rev.  Dr.  John  Mason. 

1779.  Jonathan  Bayard  Smith,  Esq. 

1780.  Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull. 

1781.  Hon.  Joseph  Reed. 

1781.  Rev.  James  Boyd. 

1782.  Isaac  Snowden. 
1782.  Rev.  Jonathan  Elmer. 
1785.  Dr.  John  Beatty. 

1785.  Rev.  Wm.  Mackay  Tennent. 
1785.  Rev.  Alexander  Miller. 

1787.  William  Paterson,  Esq.,  to  1790,  when  he  became  ex  officio  President  of 
the  Board,  being  the  Governor  of  the  State. 

1788.  Rev.  Andrew  Hunter. 
1790.  Rev.  Ashbel  Green. 

1790.  Rev.  James  Francis  Armstrong. 

1791.  Richard  Stockton,  Esq. 

1793.  Hon.  William  Paterson,  re-elected. 
1793.  Rev.  Jacob  Van  Artsdale. 
1793.  Joseph  Bloomneld,  Esq. 

Treasurers  of  the  College  during  Dr.  W7itherspoon's  administration : 

Jonathan  Sergeant,  Esq.,  Treasurer  until  1777. 

Upon  his  decease  a  committee  was  appointed  to  settle  with  Mr.  Sergeant's  execu- 
tors and  to  take  charge  of  the  funds. 

Wm.  Churchill  Houston,  Esq.,  Treasurer  from  1779  to  1783. 

Rev.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  Treasurer  from  1783  to  1786. 

Upon  Dr.  Smith's  resignation,  two  gentlemen  were  chosen,  one  after  the  other, 
but  both  declined  to  act.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  Dr.  Smith  continued  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  the  Treasurer  until  the  appointment  of 

Mr.  Isaac  Snowden,  Jr.,  Treasurer  from  1788  to  1791. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Treasurer  from  1791  to  1794. 

The  following  statements  respecting  the  course  of  study  and  the  College  charges 


DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


367 


are  copied  froru  the  advertisements  annexed  to  the  charter  and  the  laws,  in  a  pam- 
phlet published  in  1794,  the  last  year  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presidency. 
"  The  studies  of  the  different  classes  are  the  following : 

"  Freshman,  Greek  Testament,  Sallust,  Lucian,  Cicero,  and  Mair's  Introduction 
[to  Latin  Syntax]. 

"  Sophontore,\eno\ihon,  Cicero,  Homer,  Horace,  Roman  Antiquities,  Geography, 
Arithmetic!:,  English  Grammar  and  Composition. 

"  Junior,  Algebra,  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Practical  Geometry,  Conic  Sections, 
Natural  Philosophy,  English  Grammar  and  Composition. 

"  Senior,  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Criticism,  Chronology,  Logick,  and  the 
Classicks.* 

"  The  ordinary  expenses  for  each  student  are : 

Entrance  money       .         .         .         .4  dollars  and  67  cents. 
Tuition         do.         .         .         .         .     8        "  —     "      per  session. 

Library         do.         ....  67     "" 

Damage        do.         ....  67     "  " 

Room  Rent 5        "        "    33     "  " 

Board  with  the  Steward    .         .         .     I        "        "   67     "      per  week." 

At  this  time — 1794 — the  Faculty  was  composed  of  the  following-named  persons  : 
John  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  President. 

Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  D.D.,  Vice-President  and  Professor  of  Moral  Philos- 
ophy. 

Walter  Minto,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy. 

Robert  Finley,  A.M.,  Tutor. 

Silas  Wood,  A.M.,  Tutor. 

All  were,  or  became,  eminent  men. 

*  "  Besides  the  authors  above  mentioned,  the  following  are  at  present  taught  in 
the  College: — Wettenhall's  Greek  Grammar;  Ovid's  Metamorphoses;  Kennel's 
Roman  Antiquities;  Guthrie's  Geography;  Lowth's  English  Grammar;  Simpson's 
Algebra;  Bossut's  Elements  of  Geometry,  manuscript;  Minto's  Trigonometry,  Prac- 
tical Geometry,  and  Conic  Sections,  manuscript ;  Sherwin's  Logarithms;  Moore's 
Navigation;  Helsham's  Natural  Philosophy;  Nicholson's  Natural  Philosophy; 
Witherspoon's  Moral  Philosophy,  Criticism,  and  Chronology,  manuscript;  and 
Duncan's  Logic." 


APPENDIX 

TO  THE  CHAPTER   ON  DR.  WITHERSPOON'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  most  perplexing  matter  in  the  report  made  in  April, 
1775,  respecting  the  condition  of  the  College  funds,  was  the 
discrepancy  between  the  statements  of  the  committee  and  cer- 
tain claims  of  the  President. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  had  received  sundry  moneys  for  the  Col- 
lege, and  had  also  incurred  sundry  expenses,  for  which  he 
claimed  a  credit.  Some  of  these  the  committee  thought 
ought  not  to  be  allowed,  as  they  had  been  incurred  without 
authority  from  the  Board,  and,  in  the  judgment  of  the  com- 
mittee, unnecessarily.  The  President  and  committee  also  dif- 
fered as  to  the  right  of  the  President  to  expend,  at  his  discretion, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  College,  the  income  from  the  fund  given 
by  Wm.  Phillips,  Esq.,  and  his  brothers,  of  Boston ;  and  in  set- 
tling the  account  the  committee  refused  to  allow  the  President 
the  credits  claimed  by  him  for  payments  made  from  the  interest 
of  this  fund.  But  upon  the  President's  producing  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  Mr.  Phillips,  the  Board  yielded  this  point,  and 
the  President  continued  to  dispose  of  the  avails  of  this  trust  for 
College  purposes.  (The  letter  is  taken  from  page  313  of  the 
first  volume  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Board) : 

"  NORWICH,  March  9,  1776. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  igth  ult.  I  have  before  me,  and  I 
thank  you  for  your  affectionate  expressions  of  regard  for  me  in  my  ejected  state.  I 
have  great  cause  for  thankfulness  that  I  am  not  imprisoned  in  Boston. 

"  I  do  not  recollect  the  particular  directions  I  gave  as  to  the  disposal  of  the  in- 
terest arising  on  the  donation  of  my  mother's  [brothers']  and  mine.  You  were  the 
cause  of  obtaining  it,  from  the  confidence  we  had  in  you,  as  well  as  the  affection 
for  that  Seminary. 

"  It  is  my  desire,  and  doubt  not  of  my  mother's  [brothers']  that  you  personally  be- 
stow the  interest  of  the  above  donation  till  you  hear  further  from  us,  as  you  have 
the  best  opportunity  of  knowing  the  most  proper  objects;  at  the  same  time  desire, 
when  anything  offers,  either  to  lay  out  the  capital  in  any  article,  or  dispose  of  the 
368 


APPENDIX   TO  DR.    WITHERSPOON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


369 


interest  in  any  other  way  that  may  appear  to  you  more  for  the  general  good  of  the 
College,  you  would  advise  me  thereof." 

The  use  of  the  word  mother 's  for  brothers'  is,  no  doubt,  a  cler- 
ical error  in  copying  the  letter  into  the  College  records. 

The  minutes  of  the  April  meeting  of  1/75,  at  which  this 
report  of  the  committee  was  made  in  detail,  are  not  on  record, 
but  it  appears  from  a  statement  of  the  report  of  1793,  men- 
tioned above,  that  the  report  of  1775  was  approved  by  the 
Board,  but  that  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  in 
1778,  they  passed  the  account  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  upon  the 
examination  and  report  of  another  committee,  who,  it  is  alleged 
by  Dr.  Boudinot,  had  none  of  the  former  proceedings  before 
them.  But  this  special  committee  had  before  them  what  the 
first  committee  had  not,  viz.,  Mr.  Phillips's  letter,  given  above, 
and  also  some  of  the  papers  referred  to  in  Dr.  Boudinot's  re- 
port of  1794,  upon  the  strength  of  which  the  Doctor  and  the 
committee  could  and  did  say,  and  that,  too,  after  including  all 
accounts  between  the  College  and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  as  far  back 
as  1775,  disregarding  the  settlement  of  1778: 

"  Your  committee,  moreover,  feel  it  to  be  a  duty  not  to  close  this  report  without 
declaring  that,  whereas  it  appears  to  have  been  apprehended  that  some  inquiries 
heretofore  made  by  this  committee  were  intended  to  implicate  the  character  of 
Dr.  AVitherspoon,  no  such  design  was  ever  in  the  contemplation  of  the  committee. 
And  they  do  now  most  cheerfully  report,  that  these  inquiries  are  answered  to  their 
entire  satisfaction,  from  papers  furnished  by  the  President  himself,  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  must  convince  every  person  who  understands  the  subject  that  there 
is  no  foundation  whatever  for  any  impeachment  or  suspicion  of  the  President's 
integrity." 

A  happy  conclusion,  and  happily  arrived  at  before  the  decease 
of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  who  died  within  less  than  two  months  after 
this  report  was  made. 

The  first  report  disallowing  Dr.  Witherspoon's  sundry  claims, 
and  making  him  largely  a  debtor  to  the  College,  was  made  nine- 
teen years  before  his  decease,  and  was  appended  to  a  report  made 
seventeen  years  after  the  first  one.  More  than  a  year  after  Dr. 
Witherspoon's  death,  Dr.  Boudinot  presents  yet  another  report 
on  the  funds  of  the  College,  in  which  he  takes  occasion  to  say: 

"  Another  sum  is  a  donation  from  three  brothers,  the  Messrs.  Phillips,  of  Bos- 


370        PIISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

ton,  amounting  to  about  ^535.  Seven  per  cent,  interest  has  constantly  been 
credited  to  himself  by  the  late  Dr.  Witherspoon  for  twenty  years  past,  amounting 
to  ^"738.16,  without  regard  to  the  interest  received  by  this  Board  on  this  sum,  or 
any  losses  of  the  general  fund  during  the  war,  by  depreciation  or  otherwise,  and 
without  any  responsibility,  as  to  the  appropriation,  to  this  Board.  This  sum  was 
refused  to  be  allowed  by  the  committee  of  1774,  which  refusal  was  confirmed  by 
the  Board,  but  afterwards  rescinded  and  allowed  to  the  Doctor,  on  his  producing 
a  letter  from  the  Donors,  dated  two  years  after  the  disallowance  by  said  committee. 
This  fund  has  suffered  so  materially  by  this  transaction,  that  some  attention  is  due 
to  it  from  the  Board." 

At  the  time  the  Board  received  the  money  they  recognized 
in  express  terms  the  right  of  the  donors  to  dispose  of  the  in- 
terest of  this  fund,  and  even  the  fund  itself,  at  their  pleasure 
for  the  good  of  the  College ;  and  the  right  to  dispose  of  the 
income  from  the  funds,  the  Messrs.  Phillips  transferred  to  Dr. 
Witherspoon  until  they  should  order  otherwise. 

The  only  further  action  of  the  Board  in.  this  matter  was  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolution :  "  Resolved,  That  the 
interest  arising  from  the  donation  of  the  Messrs.  Phillips,  of 
Boston,  which  has  hitherto  been  submitted  to  the  personal  ap- 
propriation of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  the  late  President,  agreeably  to 
the  instruction  of  the  donors ;  and  the  principal  of  the  donation 
now  falls  into  the  general  stock,  subject  to  the  appropriation 
of  the  Board."  The  appropriation  was  not  to  the  Doctor 
personally,  but  made  by  him  personally  without  instructions 
from  the  Board.  (On  page  160  of  the  Minutes  an  extract  from 
the  letter  of  the  Messrs.  Phillips  was  inserted  at  the  request  of 
the  President.) 

Whether  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  indebted  to  the  College  or  the 
College  to  him  at  the  settlement  of  September,  1774,  reported 
in  April,  1775,  turns  very  much  upon  the  question  whether  his 
assuming  to  pay  ^"243. 1.4  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  indebtedness  to  the 
College,  and  also  £11 5.6  for  Mr.  Woodruff  (Stewards  of  the 
College),  are  to  be  viewed  as  debts  due  by  Dr.  Witherspoon  to 
the  College  or  to  the  persons  named.  In  the  latter  case  the 
College  was  indebted  to  him. 

The  following  passages  from  a  notice  to  the  public,  of  the  date 
of  September  28,  1781,  published  in  the  "  New  Jersey  Gazette" 
of  October  10,  1782,  will  serve  to  throw  some  light  on  these 


APPENDIX    TO  DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


371 


assumptions  of  debt  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Witherspoon :  "  The 
'  entrance  money  and  the  chamber  rent  must  be  paid  to  the 
Treasurer,  the  tuition  to  the  President,  and  the  board  to  the 
Steward,  in  advance  for  six  months.  This  last  circumstance  of 
paying  in  advance  every  six  months  will  not  be  in  any  instance 
dispensed  with,  as  the  Trustees  have  renewed  or  ratified  tlie  for- 
mer law,  that  if  complaint  is  made  by  the  Treasurer  or  Steward 
that  any  student  has  not  made  his  advance  for  the  current  half- 
year,  the  President  must  either  dismiss  him  from  College  or  be 
himself  answerable  for  the  debt. 

"With  regard  to  enforcing  punctuality  in  the  payments,  the 
reader  will  easily  perceive  that  the  burden  must  be  wholly  on 
the  subscriber,  who  has  already  suffered  so  much  by  arrearages 
and  pledging  himself  for  persons  at  a  distance,  that  nobody  need 
expect  a  repetition  of  the  same  expensive  and  dangerous  com- 
plaisance." 

Signed  by  DR.  WITHERSPOON. 

In  money  matters,  as  well  as  in  all  others,  Dr.  Witherspoon's 
course  was  not  only  perfectly  correct,  as  finally  acknowledged 
by  the  Committee  on  Accounts,  but  truly  generous,  especially 
during  the  period  when  the  currency  of  the  country  was  greatly 
depreciated.  When,  according  to  the  understanding  between 
the  Trustees  and  himself,  he  was  entitled  to  receive  his  salary 
in  gold  and  silver,  he,  of  his  own  accord,  took  it  for  two  years 
in  the  depreciated  currency  ;  and  in  reference  to  his  liberal  and 
generous  conduct  in  consenting  to  relinquish  a  large  part  of 
his  salary  that  better  provision  might  be  made  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  students,  the  Trustees'  expressed  their  views  by  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolution :  "  Resolved,  That  this 
Board  do  approve  of  this  proposal  and  interpretation  [of  a  pre- 
vious agreement],  which  they  consider  as  an  act  of  generosity 
towards  this  corporation." 

At  this  very  time  the  Board  was  indebted  to  Dr.  Witherspoon 
in  the  sum  of  ^"881.13.3,  as  appears  from  the  report  of  Messrs. 
W.  P.  Smith  and  John  Bayard,  the  committee  appointed  to  ex- 
amine the  Doctor's  accounts. 

Upon  the  return  of  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  from  Great 


272        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Britain,  they  deposited  with  the  Trustees  of  the  College  the 
sum  of  .£357.4.6  sterling,  given  to  them  while  they  were  yet 
abroad,  for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  at  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey, — the  beneficiaries,  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry, to  be  designated  by  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  and  also 
the  allowances  to  them  respectively. 

After  his  return  home,  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  received 
from  a  gentleman  in  Scotland  two  hundred  pounds  sterling, 
regarded  as  equal  to  three  hundred  pounds  proc.  of  New  Jer- 
sey, which  sum  the  donor  requested  should  be  given  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  College,  "  in  trust  for  one  or  other  of  the  follow- 
ing purposes,  viz.:  to  the  support  of  a  pious  and  well-qualified 
missionary  in  preaching  the  gospel  among  the  Indians  in  North 
America;  or  the  supporting  a  pious  and  well-qualified  school- 
master in  teaching  the  Indians  the  English  language,  and  the 
principles  of  natural  and  revealed  religion ;  or  for  maintaining 
a  pious  and  well-qualified  Indian  youth  at  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  while  prosecuting  his  studies  there,  in  order  to  instruct- 
ing his  countrymen  in  the  English  language  and  the  Christian 
religion,  or  preaching  the  gospel  to  them ;  or  for  maintaining 
a  pious  and  well-qualified  youth  of  English  or  Scotch  extract, 
at  that  College,  during  his  preparatory  studies  for  teaching;  or 
preaching  the  gospel  among  the  Indians,  in  case  an  Indian 
youth  of  suitable  qualifications  cannot  at  some  particular  time 
be  obtained ;  with  the  express  limitation,  that  the  Synod  of 
New  York  (by  whatever  name  that  body  in  time  coming  be 
called)  shall  direct  and  determine  to  which  of  the  uses  before 
mentioned  the  yearly  interest  of  the  aforesaid  principal  sum 
shall  be,  from  time  to  time, '  applied ;  and  which  of  the  can- 
didates for  that  particular  use  shall  be  preferred ;  and  how  the 
overplus  above  what  may  answer  the  particular  use  at  any 
time  pitched  on  (if  any  such  overplus  be)  shall  be  employed,  as 
in  providing  Bibles  or  other  good  books  conducive  to  promote 
the  general  design." 

The  Board  accepted  these  trusts  on  the  conditions  prescribed. 
Twenty  years  after,  we  find  the  following  minutes,  of  the  date  of 
September  27,  1775  : 

"  The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  give  their 


APPENDIX   TO  DR.   WITHERSPOOW  S  ADMINISTRATION. 


373 


opinion  upon  the  appropriation  of  the  interest  of  the  .£300 
lodged  in  our  treasury  by  the  Synod  are  not  prepared  to  de- 
liver a  report. 

"  The  Board,  however,  agreed  that  Mr.  Brainerd  should  enjoy 
that  interest  for  the  present  year,  according  to  the  request  of 
the  Synod,  and  the  Clerk  was  directed  to  give  Mr.  Brainerd  an 
order  to  receive  it. 

"  The  Board,  considering  that  they  paid  6  per  cent,  interest 
and  ran  all  the  risk  of  the  principal  for  the  £$oo  lodged  with 
them  by  [for]  the  Synod  of  New  York,  that  they  might  apply 
the  interest  of  it  to  the  education  of  pious  youth,  according  to 
the  direction  of  the  committee  of  the  Synod  appointed  for  that 
purpose,  Resolved,  That  they  would  not  hereafter  allow  more 
than  5  per  cent,  for  that  sum,  and  appointed  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
Dr.  Rodgers,  Mr.  Treat,  Mr.  Spencer,  Mr.  McWhorter,  or  a 
majority  of  them,  to  be  a  committee  to  report  this  resolve  to 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  If  the  Synod  should 
not  agree  to  the  allowance -of  5  per  cent.,  the  committee  were 
instructed  to  deliver  the  money  to  that  body,  and  were  em- 
powered to  draw  upon  the  Treasurer  for  the  sum." 

The  Synod  did  agree  to  the  proposed  reduction  in  the  rate 
of  interest,  and  the  money  remained  in  the  College  treasury. 
During  the  Revolutionary  War  the  funds  of  the  College  suffered 
a  depreciation  in  their  value  to  the  extent  of  sixty-six  per  cent. 
of  the  entire  capital ;  and  these  trust  funds  were  made  to  bear 
their  share  of  the  loss. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  there  should  have  arisen  in 
the  mind  of  any  one  a  doubt  as  to  the  right  of  the  Synod  to 
direct  to  whom  and  for  what  purposes  the  interest  accruing 
from  the"se  particular  funds  should  be  paid,  when  the  perso.ns 
who  deposited  these  funds  in  the  College  treasury  did  provide 
in  express  terms  for  the  Synod's  control  of  the  interest,  and  so 
informed  the  Synod  and  the  Board ;  and  for  twenty  years  both 
Synod  and  Board  had  acted  upon  this  understanding,  without 
any  doubt  or  scruple  as  to  its  correctness. 

In  the  minute  cited  above,  the  fund  for  the  education  of  poor 
and  pious  youth  is  spoken  of  as  "  lodged  by  the  Synod  of  New 
York."  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  word  by  was  inadver- 


374        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

tently  used  for  the  word  for,  the  substitution  of  which  would 
make  the  statement  both  precise  and  exact.  With  respect  to 
the  other  fund,  it  was  stipulated  by  the  giver  himself  that  the 
interest  should  be  devoted  to  one  or  other  of  several  pur- 
poses as  directed  by  the  Synod,  by  whatever  name  that  body 
might  be  known  in  time  to  come ;  and  yet  we  find  the  Com- 
mittee on  Accounts  in  1775  (the  committee  named  above),  in 
their  general  report,  questioning  the  extent  of  the  Synod's 
powers  as  to  these  funds,  and  holding  that,  in  regard  to  the  fund 
for  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth,  the  power  of  the 
Synod  extended  no  further  than  to  the  mere  nominating  of  the 
individuals  to  whom  the  income  of  this  fund  should  be  appro- 
priated, and  that  this  appropriation  should  be  for  their  educa- 
tion exclusively, — that  is,  for  the  payment  of  their  tuition-fees 
only, — and  not  at  all  for  maintenance  while  engaged  in  pur- 
suing their  studies,  and  that  the  allowance  made  to  each  one 
should  be  determined  by  the  Trustees  and  not  by  the  Synod. 
It  is  rather  extraordinary  that  the  writer  of  the  report,  Dr. 
Boudinot,  should  consider  himself  better  qualified  to  judge 
of  the  design  of  the  donors  than  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies, 
who  received  these  funds,  who  deposited  them  with  the  Trus- 
tees, and  who,  in  a  letter  to  the  Synod,  from  London,  of  the 
date  of  October  25,  1754,  say,  "  We  do  by  virtue  of  said  trust 
[the  intrusting  the  funds  to  their  care  for  the  purpose  specified] 
put  the  said  sum  into  the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  in  trust,  to  be  applied  to  the  education  of  such 
youth  of  the  character  above  mentioned  as  shall  be  examined 
and  approved  of  by  the  Synod  of  New  York,  or  by  whatever 
name  that  body  of  men  may  be  hereafter  called,  and  by  them 
recommended  to  the  Trustees  of  said  College,  to  be  divided 
among  such  youth  in  such  proportion  as  the  Synod  shall  think  Jit." 
(See  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  for  October,  1755.) 
The  only  tenable  position  taken  by  the  writer  of  the  report  is 
that  the  money  ought  to  be  drawn  from  the  College  treasury 
by  order  of  the  Trustees,  and  not  upon  an  order  given  by  the 
Committee  of  the  Synod.  A  record  of  the  depositing  of  this 
fund  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board ;  yet  in 
the  subsequent  minutes  there  are  repeated  references  to  it. 


APPENDIX  TO  DR.    WITHE  RSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


375 


Of  the  other  charitable  fund  of  two  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling, three  hundred  pounds  proc.,  the  College  Committee  on 
Accounts  say,  "  With  respect  to  the  .£300  given  with  the  de- 
sign of  educating  scholars  for  Indian  missionaries,  the  annual 
interest  of  this  money  has  been  usually  applied  to  the  use  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brainerd,  but  upon  what  principle  your  committee 
are  unable  to  comprehend,  as  it  appears  to  them  to  be  acting 
quite  beyond  the  powers  granted  by  the  charter,  and  which,  for 
weighty  reasons,  the  committee  beg  leave  to  recommend  to  the 
full  consideration  of  this  corporation  as  a  matter  that  greatly 
concerns  its  Being  as  well  as  its  Interests.  Upon  the  whole,  the 
committee  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  income  of  these 
moneys  ought  to  be  solely  appropriated  to  the  purpose  of  edu- 
cating such  young  men  as  shall  be  directed  by  the  Synod,  or 
other  persons  pointed  out  by  the  donor,  and  a  particular  account 
be  kept  of  such  dispositions,  so  that  it  may  at  all  times  appear 
that  the  trust  has  been  duly  performed." 

This  is  a  most  extraordinary  report,  involving  both  the  Board 
and  the  Synod  in  the  charge  of  violating  the  trust  confided 
to  them  conjointly,  and  that  for  twenty  years ;  and  furnishing 
upon  the  face  of  it  complete  evidence  that  the  writer  did  not 
understand  or  disregarded  the  terms  of  the  trust  as  laid  down 
in  the  letter  written  by  the  donor  himself,  at  the  very  time  he 
gave  the  money,  and  which  was  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Board  for  September,  1/56;  the  very  first  purpose  mentioned  for 
which  the  interest  of  the  trust  might  be  expended  being  "  the 
support  of  a  pious  and  well-qualified  missionary,  in  preaching 
the  gospel  among  the  Indians  of  North  America."  Was  not 
Mr.  Brainerd  just  such  a  missionary?  The  report  does  not 
state  correctly  the  design  of  the  trust  when  it  omits  all  mention 
of  the  fact  just  stated,  and  simply  speaks  of  the  educating  of 
scholars  for  Indian  missionaries  as  the  design  of  it.  If  the 
design  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  language  of  the  donor,  there 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  propriety  of  paying  the  interest  of 
this  fund  to  Mr.  Brainerd  while  engaged  in  preaching  to  the 
Indians  and  in  maintaining  a  school  among  them.  These  are 
the  two  objects  first  mentioned  to  which  the  income  may, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  Synod,  be  given.  The  educating  of 


376        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

youths  for  teachers  of  the  Indians  was  a  secondary  object  of  the 
trust ;  at  least  it  was  mentioned  after  the  other  two ;  and  the 
provision  that  they  should  be  educated  at  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  would  seem  at  least  to  justify  the  Trustees  in  accepting 
the  trust,  even  if  they  were  not  clearly  authorized  by  their 
charter  to  hold  funds  for  other  than  educational  purposes  under 
their  own  direction.  The  report  assumes  and  asserts  that  under 
the  charter  the  Board  had  no  right  to  receive  this  fund  for  any 
other  than  educational  purposes,  and  that  they  should  hold  it 
for  the  education  of  youths  of  a  certain  character  to  be  desig- 
nated by  the  Synod,  and  for  nothing  else.  If  in  accepting  the 
trust  the  Trustees  went  beyond  their  just  powers,  it  is  certain 
that  they  did  not  misconceive  their  duty  under  this  special 
trust,  but  had  most  faithfully  fulfilled  it. 

Twenty-one  years  after  this  report  on  the  finances  of  the  Col- 
lege was  presented,  the  writer  of  it,  in  another  report,  made 
April,  1796,  makes  use  of  the  following  language:  "The  chari- 
table funds  require  the  particular  attention  of  the  Board.  The 
first  sum  carried  to  this  account  consists  of  moneys  collected 
by  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies,  in  England,  on  a  mission  from 
and  at  the  expense  of  this  Board.  Yet  these  gentlemen  have 
thought  proper  of  their  own  motion,  without  the  consent  of  the 
Board,  and,  as  your  committee  conceives,  any  act  of  the  donors, 
by  an  instrument  executed  by  them,  to  put  the  sum  of  £500 
under  the  direction  of  another  body  no  ways  legally  connected 
with  this  corporation,  and  so  inattentive  has  this  Board  been  to 
the  circumstances  of  this  case  that  in  their  minutes  they  have 
deliberately  recognized  this  sum  as  lodged  with  them  by  that 
body  of  men,  and  agreed  to  allow  them  5  per  cent,  interest  for 
it,  without  there  being  even  a  color  of  right  for  such  a  transac- 
tion in  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of  your  committee.  Since 
then  another  body  of  men  [the  General  Assembly],  equally  un- 
connected in  law  with  the  corporation,  have  claimed  the  right 
to  dispose  of  this  money,  as  representing  those  who  first  laid 
claim  to  it,  who  now  call  upon  this  Board  to  account  for  the 
net  proceeds  thereof." 

"  The  next  is  that  of  the  £200  sterling  given  by  an  un- 
known person  in  Scotland,  through  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Burr, 


APPENDIX   TO  DR.   WITHERSPOOWS  ADMINISTRATION. 


377 


for  divers  particular  uses,  two  only  of  which  can  be  executed 
by  this  Board,  viz.,  that  of  educating  an  English  or  Scotch 
youth,  or  an  Indian  youth,  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  the 
gospel  to  the  Indians,  with  the  condition  that  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  shall  determine  to  which  of  the 
purposes  it  shall  be  applied,  and  which  candidate  shall  be  pre- 
ferred, the  last  of  which  only  can  be  allowed  to  that  Reverend 
Body.  Your  committee  cannot  but  observe  that  the  interest 
of  this  sum  has  been  repeatedly  paid  to  a  purpose  wholly 
foreign  to  the  duties  of  their  trust  limited  in  their  charter,  and 
which  cannot  be  justified  by  any  of  the  powers  contained 
therein." 

If  Governor  Belcher,  who  gave  the  charter  in  the  name  of  the 
King,  and  who  had  it  drawn  up  under  his  own  eye,  and  dictated 
its  terms,  and  who  presided  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  at 
which  this  special  trust  was  thankfully  received  by  the  Board 
and  cheerfully  accepted,  saw  no  objection  to  its  terms ;  if  such 
an  eminent  lawyer  as  the  Honorable  William  Smith,  of  New 
York,  who  was  also  present  when  the  trust  was  accepted,  had 
no  scruples  and  intimated  no  doubt  as  to  the  right  of  the  Board 
to  accept  the  trust  with  the  conditions  thereto  annexed  ;  if  Pres- 
idents Burr,  Davies,  Finley,  and  Witherspoon,  in  succession, 
and  for  a  period  of  forty  years,  did  not  discover  that  the  Trus- 
tees, by  giving  effect  to  the  wishes  of  the  donor,  were  endanger- 
ing the  being  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  College,  it  cannot 
be  regarded  as  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green,  a  member  of  the  committee,  and  President  of  the  Col- 
lege at  a  later  period,  entered  his  dissent  from  this  part  of  the 
report,  which  was  evidently  written  in  a  captious  and  fault- 
finding spirit.  The  imputation  cast  upon  Messrs.  Tennent  and' 
Davies  was  wholly  gratuitous,  and  as  uncalled-for  as  gratuitous. 
They  informed  the  Synod,  and,  no  doubt,  informed  the  Board, 
in  their  report  of  the  results  of  their  mission,  that  the  moneys 
here  in  question  had  been  intrusted  to  themselves  personally 
to  aid  a  certain  class  of  youth  in  obtaining  an  education,  and 
that  they,  in  virtue  of  that  trust,  had  put  the  moneys  into  the 
hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  for  the  aid  of  such  young 
men  as  might  be  recommended  by  the  Synod.  Those  who 
VOL.  i. — 25 


378        HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

forty  years  before  employed  Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies  in 
their  laborious  but  eminently  successful  agency  for  the  College 
were  well  satisfied  with  their  course,  took  no  exception  to  their 
conduct,  and  expressed  their  gratitude  for  their  valuable  and 
unrequited  services. 

What  was  to  hinder  the  Board  from  taking  the  school  at 
Brotherton,  New  Jersey,  under  their  care,  and  employing  Mr. 
Brainerd  to  superintend  it  for  them,  if  in  no  other  way  they 
could  accomplish  the  main  object  of  the  trust  ?  The  charter 
authorized  the  Board  to  establish  a  school  anywhere  in  New 
Jersey,  as  appears  from  the  section  relating  to  property. 

If  it  were  so,  that  under  the  charter  the  Trustees  could  not 
fulfil  all  the  terms  of  the  trust,  in  the  case  of  the  two  hundred 
pounds  received  from  Scotland,  why  did  not  the  committee 
recommend  that  the  trust  itself  be  surrendered  to  the  Synod, 
or  to  other  parties,  who  could  legally  administer  it,  instead  of 
insisting  that  the  Board  should  in  future  restrict  the  expend- 
iture of  the  income  therefrom  to  the  education  of  a  Scotch, 
English,  or  Indian  youth,  or  propose  that  application  be  made 
to  the  Legislature  for  authority  to  administer  this  special  trust 
in  the  manner  specified  by  the  donor? 

Influenced  by  the  statements  and  reasoning  of  the  report  of 
April,  1793,  the  Trustees  decided  that  the  Board,  by  the  inten- 
tion of  the  donors,  was  under  no  obligation  to  take  any  direction 
or  advice  from  the  Synod  of  New  York,  or  their  successors, 
in  the  disposal  of  the  money  obtained  by  Messrs.  Tennent 
and  Davies  in  the  Island  of  Great  Britain ;  and  it  was  ordered, 
"  That  a  copy  of  the  minute  on  this  subject  should  be  sent  to 
the  Committee  of  the  General  Assembly  appointed  to  designate 
the  beneficiaries,  and  to  apportion  to  them  their  respective 
allowances  from  the  fund  in  question." 

The  General  Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with 
the  Trustees  in  regard  to  this  decision,  and  the  result  was,  that 
the  Board  rescinded  their  resolution  and  restored  matters  to 
their  former  footing. 

Yielding  to  the  representations  of  the  Committee  on  Accounts, 
made  April,  1796,  that  the  charter  did  not  warrant  their  holding 
any  funds,  in  trust  or  otherwise,  except  for  the  purposes  of  edu- 


APPENDIX   TO   DR.    WITHERSPOO*"1  S  ADMINISTRATION. 


379 


cation,  the  Board  resolved,  that  the  interest  arising  from  the 
fund  for  the  support  of  an  Indian  mission,  etc.,  should  be  appro- 
priated by  the  Board  to  the  education  of  a  youth  to  be  desig- 
nated by  the  General  Assembly.  And  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  General  Assembly,  although  informed  of  this  resolution  of 
the  Board,  made  any  objection  to  it;  influenced,  probably,  by 
these  two  considerations:  I,  that  the  Indian  mission  at  Brother- 
ton,  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey,  to  the  support  of  which 
the  interest  of  this  fund  had  often  been  voted,  had  been  given 
up  ;  and,  2,  that  the  original  fund  of  two  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling had  been  reduced  to  sixty-eight  pounds  sterling,  or  one 
hundred  and  two  pounds  proc.  of  New  Jersey.  The  fund  for 
the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth,  collected  in  Britain  by 
Messrs.  Tennent  and  Davies,  was  reduced  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty-two  pounds  six  shillings  and  five  pence  proc.,  or  £,  I  o  I  .  I  o.  1  1  % 
sterling. 

These  funds  being  so  much  diminished,  the  General  Assembly 
finally  gave  up  all  control  of  the  interest,  and  permitted  the 
Trustees  to  dispense  it  at  their  discretion. 

As  it  may  be  as  well  to  present  at  one  view  all  matters  re- 
lating to  the  finances  of  the  College  during  Dr.  Witherspoon's 
administration,  brief  mention  will  here  be  made  of  the  other 
funds,  with  some  comments  on  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Accounts  respecting  them. 

In  their  report  of  April,  1775,  this  committee  gave  a  statement 
of  the  receipts  from  May,  1769,  to  September,  1774,  and  of  this 
account  of  particulars  they  observe,  "  Hence  it  will  be  seen 
that  since  May,  1769,  the  Treasurer  has  received  in  donations 
and  subscriptions  divers  sums  to  the  amount  of  ,£7468.1.1,  and 
that  he  had  received,  prior  to  the  present  account,  before  May, 


"  Without  these  seasonable  and  providential  aids  your  com- 
mittee are  of  the  opinion  that  this  corporation  must  ere  this 
time  have  become  totally  bankrupt.  For  in  1769,  before  any 
of  these  donations  were  received,  the  clear  stock  was  (including 
the  charitable  appropriations)  about  ;£3OOO,  of  which  about 
^1800  only  was  upon  interest;  and  now  the  whole  stock  but 
little  exceeds  ;£6ooo.  Hence  it  appears  that  since  that  time 


HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

there  hath  been  expended  of  what  ought,  or  at  least  might,  have 
been  capital,  a  sum  not  much  short  of  .£5000." 

Here  there  is  an  unqualified  censure,  which  is  not  warranted 
by  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  minutes  of  the  Board  furnish 
evidence  that  the  College  was  in  pressing  need  of  funds  that 
could  be  expended  as  soon  as  received,  and  that  funds  were 
solicited  and  obtained  with  the  expectation  that  a  consider- 
able portion  of  them  would  be  expended  in  paying  the  debts 
and  some  of  the  current  expenses  of  the  institution,  and  in 
making  the  best  possible  provision  for  the  instruction  of  the 
students. 

From  the  committee's  own  showing  it  appears  that  the  entire 
sum  received  during  these  jive  years  from  interest  of  moneys 
loaned,  tuition-fees,  rent  of  rooms,  proceeds  of  lotteries,  and 
other  sources,  exclusive  of  bonds  and  donations,  amounted  to 
only  ^"4617.2.2,  while  the  expenditures  for  salaries,  for  philo- 
sophical and  astronomical  apparatus,  for  ordinary  and  extra 
expenses  (including  those  of  agencies  to  solicit  funds,  for 
lottery  agencies,  repairs  of  buildings,  improvement  of  the 
grounds,  paying  of  debts  contracted  before  September,  1769), 
and  appropriations  from  the  trust  funds,  amounted  to  .£8058.2.5, 
showing  that  the  expenses  exceeded  the  ordinary  income  by 
^"3441.0.3,*  which  excess  of  the  expenses  was  paid  from  the 
donations  given  not  so  much  for  the  endowment  of  the  College 

*  As  given  by  the  committee,  the  expenditures  and  the  receipts  from  September, 
1769,  to  September,  1774,  five  years,  are  as  follows : 

EXPENDITURES. 
1774,  September  28. 

To  old  debts  discharged,  including  those  due  to  Mr.  Field  (book- 
seller of  London)  and  Mr.  Sergeant  (the  Treasurer)  .         .  ^649.  5.8 
"   Philosophical  apparatus        .         .         .         .         .         .         .  416.13.4 

"  Orrery 284.  4.0 

"  Officers' salaries  for  four  years      ......  3461.  4.1 

"  Omitted  in  the  above   ........  730 

"   Extra  and  ordinary  expenses,  five  years        .         .         .         .  2210.  2.0 

"   Charitable  appropriations  (from  the  trust  funds)    .         .         .  306.13.4 

^8058.  2.5 


APPENDIX  TO  DR.   WITHERSPOOW  S  ADMINISTRATION. 


381 


as  for  placing  the  institution  in  a  condition  in  which  it  should 
be  fully  able  to  accomplish  the  end  for  which  it  was  established. 
This  was  done;  and  had  not  the  War  of  the  Revolution  come  on 
soon  after,  there  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  the  number 
of  the  students  would  have  greatly  increased,  and  that  the  re- 
sources of  the  institution  would  have  been  largely  augmented.  If 
to  this  sum  of  £3441. 0.3  be  added  the  .£302.9.7  refused  Dr.  With- 
erspoon  by  the  committee,  but  finally  allowed  him  by  the  Board, 
the  excess  of  the  expenses  above  the  ordinary  receipts  would  be 
.£3743.9.10,  which  could  be  paid  only  from  the  donations,  which, 
according  to  the  committee's  report,  amounted  to  the  sum  of 
^7468.1.1.  But,  taking  the  case  as  it  is  presented  by  the  com- 
mittee, the  difference  between  the  donations  from  May,  1769, 
to  September,  1774,  .£7468.1.1,  and  the  excess  of  the  expendi- 
tures above  the  receipts,  .£3441.0.3,  is  the  sum  of  .£4027.0.10, 
which  added  to  the  .£3000,  the  stock  in  1769,  would  make 
the  whole  fund,  in  September,  1774,  .£7027.0.10.  This  sum, 
diminished  by  the  moneys  reported  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
President  and  of  the  Treasurer  respectively,  and  amounting  to 
^"1230.5.7,  leaves  .£5796.15.3,  which,  according  to  the  commit- 
tee's own  statement,  is  very  nearly  the  sum  actually  invested  in 
bonds  and  notes  deemed  to  be  good,  and  which,  as  estimated 
by  the  committee,  "  but  little  exceeds  ;£6ooo."  The  difference 
between  .£6000  and  ^5796.15.3,  viz.,  .£203.4.9,  is  very  much 
short  of  the  .£5000  which  the  committee  intimated  had  been 
improperly  expended.  Had  the  Trustees  undertaken  to  con- 
duct the  College  upon  the  basis  laid  down  in  the  report  of  the 

RECEIPTS. 
1774,  September  28. 

By  interest,  from  September,  1769,  accrued          .     .£1829.15.  5 
"   Tuition,  Chamber  Rent,  &c.,  from  September, 

1769,  to  this  day 2449.11.  5 

"   Lottery,  old  account  received         .         .         .  108.  7.10 

"    Lottery  account,  cash  received  from  Virginia, 

being  amount  of  Samuel  Morris's  bond      .  170.13.  o 
"   Cash  received  of  Samuel  Homer  ...  27.  7.10 
"   do.  received  of  Wm.  P.  Smith,  Esq.,  Novem- 
ber, 1770 31.  6.  8 

£4617-2-2 

£3441.0.3 


382        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

committee,  they  would  never  have  had  £7468.1.1  of  donations 
either  to  invest  or  to  expend.  In  the  report  of  April,  1796,  it 
is  said  that  the  donations  since  the  year  1768,  the  time  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon's  accession,  amounted  "  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
£22,061.19.5,  a  part  of  which  was  Continental money '."  But  how 
much  was  Continental  money  the  committee  do  not  say  in  their 
report,  nor  have  we  the  accompanying  statement  of  the  various 
donations  which  make  up  this  large  sum.  What  proportion 
was  paid  in  Continental  money  must  be  a  matter  of  conjecture: 
if  one-third,  then  its  value,  £17  for  .£1,  would  give  as  the  value 
of  this  portion  of  the  donations  £433  ;  if  one-sixth,  then  their 
value  would  have  been  .£216.10;  and  if  but  one-twelfth,  their 
value  would  have  been  £"108.5,  according  to  the  value  of  the 
Continental  money  as  given  in  their  report  on  Mr.  Leslie's 
funds.  Take  it  at  one-sixth  of  the  whole  donations,  then  the 
value  of  the  donations  when  made  would  have  been,  in  the 
ordinary  currency,  £18,384,  and  this  sum  includes  the  £4529 
received  from  the  estate  of  Mr.  Leslie  and  £1127  from  the 
estate  of  Mrs.  Richards,  making  together  £5006,  leaving  to  be 
accounted  for  £13,378  of  donations.  Of  these  not  less  than 
£3000  were  invested,  as  has  been  made  to  appear  from  the 
report  made  in  April,  1775,  and  which  from  1777  to  1779  depre- 
ciated in  value  to  £1000, — being  a  loss  of  £2000, — leaving 
but  £11,378.  The  College  stock,  in  1791,  was  estimated  at 
£958.6,  irrespective  of  the  trust  funds,  and  which  may  be  fairly 
regarded  as  donations  invested,  and  worth,  before  the  depre- 
ciation in  the  currency,  £2874.18,  which,  deducted  from  the 
£11,378,  will  leave  of  the  donations  £9503.2  for  excess  of  ex- 
penditures above  the  regular  College  receipts  from  1775  to  1796, 
— the  darkest  financial  period  in  the  history  of  our  nation, — or 
less  than  £500  a  year  from  donations,  to  assist  in  supporting 
a  corps  of  teachers  and  meeting  all  the  ordinary  expenses  of 
the  College,  and  the  extra  expenses  incurred  from  injury  to  the 
College  buildings,  from  loss  of  library  and  apparatus,  from  loss 
of  funds  from  depreciation  of  stocks,  from  diminution  in  the 
number  of  students,  and  from  a  partial  or  total  failure  of  per- 
sons indebted  to  the  College.  The  College  building  was  ren- 
dered unfit  for  use  by  the  soldiery  of  Britain  and  America,  and 


APPENDIX   TO  DR.    WITHERSPOON' S  ADMINISTRATION. 


383 


the  demands  to  meet  the  current  expenses  were  great;  and 
had  not  the  friends  of  the  College  generously  come  forward 
and  contributed  funds,  not  for  investment,  but  to  meet  press- 
ing demands,  the  College  would  have  failed,  or  its  Faculty 
would  have  been  reduced  below  what  its  own  interests  and 
those  of  the  community  required. 

That  no  mistakes  were  made  by  the  College  authorities  of 
that  day  in  regard  to  financial  matters,  it  is  not  the  design  of 
these  remarks  to  maintain,  but  it  is  their  object  to  show  that 
there  was  more  cause  for  approval  than  for  censure,  and  that 
it  would  have  been  ruinous  to  act  upon  the  rule  laid  down  by 
the  committee  in  regard  to  the  expenditure  of  funds,  in  the 
circumstances  in  which,  during  the  whole  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's 
administration,  the  College  was  placed. 

No  words  can  express  so  strongly  the  hold  which  Dr.  With- 
erspoon  and  his  associates  had  upon  the  confidence  and  good 
will  of  the  community  at  large,  and  more  especially  upon  the 
friends  of  religion  and  learning,  as  the  fact  that  in  their  de- 
pressed condition,  after  a  long  and  arduous  civil  war,  they 
should  have  come  forward  with  such  great  liberality  to  sustain 
an  institution  requiring  help  to  the  extent  that  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  did. 

The  living  gave  cheerfully,  and  the  dying,  with  confidence, 
made  bequests  to  the  trust  funds  of  the  College,  to  secure  what 
the  friends  of  the  College  themselves  had  so  much  at  heart,  the 
preparation  of  pious  youth  for  the  gospel  ministry. 

Not  to  speak  now  of  smaller  bequests,  it  was  during  the 
administration  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  that  Mrs.  Esther  Richards 
made  her  bequest  to  the  College — for  the  purpose  named — of 
nearly  £i  127,  or  $3000,  and  Mr.  Leslie  his  of  more  than  ^4500, 
or  $12,000, — gifts  still  sacredly  devoted  to  the  purpose  for  which 
they  were  given,  and  which  have  been  of  unspeakable  service 
to  the  College  and  to  the  Church,  in  the  yearly  training  of  a 
number  of  pious  youth  at  the  College  for  the  Church. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

A    MEMOIR   OF  THE   REV.   JOHN   WITHERSPOON,    D.D.,    LL.D.,   THE 
SIXTH    PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

DR.  WITHERSPOON  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Yester,  Scot- 
land, on  the  5th  of  February,  1722.  His  father,  the  Rev.  James 
Witherspoon,  was  the  minister  of  the  parish  church,  and  he  is 
said  to  have  been  an  uncommonly  able  and  faithful  preacher. 
His  mother,  a  devoted  Christian  woman,  was  a  lineal  descend- 
ant of  the  great  Scottish  Reformer,  John  Knox  ;  and  also  of 
his  son-in-law,  the  famous  John  Welsh,  minister  of  Ayr,  whose 
wife,  Elizabeth,  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  John  Knox,  a 
woman  in  every  respect  worthy  of  such  relationships.  Eliz- 
abeth's mother,  Margaret  Stewart,  was  a  daughter  of  Lord 
Ochiltree;  and  "  the  family  of  Ochiltree  was  of  the  blood  royal." 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  Dr.  Witherspoon  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  where  he  pursued  his  studies  for  seven 
years.  Upon  being  licensed  to  preach,  he  was  invited  to  be  an 
assistant  minister  with  his  father,  with  the  right  of  succession ; 
but  receiving  from  the  Earl  of  Eglinton,  with  the  hearty  consent 
of  the  people,  a  presentation  to  the  parish  church  of  Beith,  in 
the  west  of  Scotland,  he  decided  to  settle  at  Beith,  and  there 
he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  After  a  few  years 
he  was  translated  to  Paisley,  a  large  and  flourishing  town  cele- 
brated for  its  various  manufactures;  and  here  he  remained  until, 
at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  he  left  Scotland  to  take  charge  of  this  institution,  which 
he  did  in  the  summer  of  1768. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  the  sixth  President  of  the  College. 

During  his  residence  at  Paisley  he  was  invited  to  Dublin, 
Ireland,  to  take  the  charge  of  a  large  congregation  in  that  city. 
He  was  also  called  to  the  city  of  Rotterdam,  in  Holland,  and  to 
384 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  JOHN   W1THERSPOON.          385 

Dundee,  Scotland.  All  these  calls  he  declined,  being  unwilling 
to  give  up  his  important  charge  at  Paisley,  and  to  enter  anew 
upon  the  work  of  a  parish  minister  and  the  formation  of  per- 
sonal and  family  friendships.  And  when  first  invited  to  become 
the  head  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  he  thought  it  his  duty 
to  decline  the  offer,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  his 
family  were  unwilling  to  leave  their  native  land  for  the  trials 
and  hardships  of  a  new  country.  But,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
he  was  led  to  review  his  decision,  and  both  he  and  his  family 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  their  duty  to  go  to 
America,  should  the  offer  above  mentioned  be  renewed.* 

*  After  this  sketch  was  begun  and  nearly  finished,  the  writer  received  from  his 
friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  C.  Beatty,  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  copies  of  two  or  three  letters 
written  by  his  grandfather,  the  Rev.  Charles  Beatty,  during  a  visit  to  Scotland  in 
1767.  As  these  letters  have  a  special  value  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  the  following  extracts  are  here  subjoined.  The  letters  are  addressed 
to  the  Rev.  R.  Treat,  of  Abington,  Pennsylvania.  Both  Mr.  Beatty  and  Mr.  Treat 
were  at  this  time  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

In  his  letter  of  the  date  of  October  15,  1767,  Mr.  Beatty  says,  "On  Saturday  I 
went  to  Paisley,  sent  for  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  my  Inn,  who  in  a  very  friendly  man- 
ner invited  me  to  lodge  at  his  house.  At  first  I  was  reluctant,  imagining  that  I 
could  not  be  agreeable  to  Mrs.  Witherspoon  no  more  than  she  would  be  to  me,  ac- 
cording to  the  idea  I  had  formed  of  her.  However,  upon  his  insisting  upon  it,  I 
consented  ;  and  I  must  confess  I  was  very  agreeably  disappointed,  for  instead  of 
finding  a  poor,  peevish,  reserved,  discontented,  &c.,  I  found  a  well-looking,  gen- 
teel, open,  friendly  woman, — which  perhaps  you  will  be  surprised  at.  I  preached 
for  the  Dr.  both  parts  of  the  day,  and  he  lectured  only ;  he  appears  to  me,  as  I  be- 
fore observed  to  you,  to  be  a  good  speaker  and  preacher,  tho'  not  a  fine  speaker.  I 
cannot  think  he  is  so  old  as  you  have  heard, — tho'  I  did  not  ask  his  age.  I  see 
him  make  no  use  of  spectacles,  neither  in  public  nor  private.  Mrs.  Witherspoon,  on 
Monday  before  I  came  away,  having  an  opportunity,  made  some  modest  apology 
to  me  for  her  conduct  when  Mr.  Stockton  was  there :  she  seemed  to  be  much 
concerned  for  it.  She  told  me  to  this  effect :  that  at  that  time,  and  for  some  time 
before,  she  was  in  a  weak  state  of  health,  and  that  in  that  situation  things  appeared 
very  gloomy  to  her, — crossing  the  sea,  and  that  her  husband  might  soon  die,  and 
she  be  left  in  a  strange  land,  &c.  I  need  say  nothing  to  you  now  about  choosing 
a  President  for  Jersey  College, — for  before  now  you  will  be  fixed  either  by  a  choice 
in  America  or  here.  Dr.  Witherspoon  has  had  a  call  to  a  congregation  in  Dublin 
this  last  summer,  but  he  declined  it.'  In  short,  he  told  me  that  the  call  to  the  Col- 
lege had  been  much  on  his  mind,  and  that  nothing  had  ever  given  him" — The 
words  immediately  following  have  become  illegible,  but  the  form  of  expression 
indicates  the  great  difficulty  he  had  had  in  coming  to  a  decision  whether  to  accept 
or  decline  the  invitation  to  the  College. 


2 86        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Upon  Dr.  Witherspoon's  refusal  to  accept  the  proffered  ap- 
pointment, the  Trustees  chose  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  a  graduate 
of  the  College,  but  at  this  time  pastor  of  the  South  Church, 
Boston,  President,  with  the  expectation  that  he  would  enter  upon 
the  duties  of  the  office  in  the  autumn  of  1768.  Learning  that 
Dr.  Witherspoon  would  probably  accept  the  presidency  of  the 
College  should  it  again  be  tendered  to  him,  with  a  promptness 
that  did  him  the  highest  honor  Mr.  Blair  at  once  resigned  his 
claim  to  the  office,  that  the  Trustees  might  have  it  in  their 
power  to  elect  Dr.  Witherspoon  a  second  time.  This  they  did 
on  the  Qth  of  December,  1767,  and  they  did  it  unanimously. 

Released  by  the  Presbytery  from  his  pastoral  charge,  he  took 
his  final  leave  of  the  church  at  Paisley  in  the  month  of  May, 
1768,  preaching  a  farewell  discourse  from  the  words  in  Acts 
xx.  26,  27 :  "  Wherefore  I  take  you  to  record  this  day,  that  I 
am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men.  For  I  have  not  shunned  to 
declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God."  It  appears  from  the 
minutes  of  the  Trustees,  of  the  date  of  August  17,  1768,  in  an 
order  respecting  the  time  when  Dr.  Witherspoon's  salary  should 
begin,  that  his  connection  with  the  church  at  Paisley  ended  the 
1 5th  of  May  preceding.  And  as  this  was  a  Sabbath-day,  it  was 
probably  the  day  on  which  his  farewell  discourse  was  delivered. 
The  month,  but  not  the  day  of  the  month,  is  prefixed  to  this 
discourse  in  the  posthumous  edition  of  his  works,  printed  and 
published  by  W.  W.  Woodward,  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1800. 

It  is  said  that  a  wealthy  relative  promised  to  make  the  Doctor 
his  heir  if  he  would  not  go  to  America. 


Under  the  date  of  October  29,  1767,  Mr.  Beatty  adds,  "I  had  the  other  day 
letters  from  some  of  my  friends  in  Edinburgh.  One  writes  that  there  was  a  subtle 
letter  wrote  over  from  Princeton,  under  a  pretence  to  encourage  Dr.  Witherspoon 
to  accept  the  call  of  N.  Jersey  College  ;  but  it  was  quite  the  reverse.  Complaint  is 
also  made  that  the  Synod  wants  to  take  what  was  collected  in  Scotland  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  corporation;  and  that  the  widows'  fund  will,  &e., — but  I  shall  be  able 
to  set  that  matter  in  another  light." 

Mr.  Beatty  had  undertaken  an  agency,  by  the  appointment  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  to  collect  moneys  for  the  establishment  of  a  fund  for 
the  aid  of  ministers,  their  widows  and  families. 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON.         387 

Dr.  Witherspoon  and  his  family  sailed  from  Glasgow,  and, 
after  a  tedious  voyage,  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  Saturday, 
the  6th  of  August,  1768.  In  that  city  they  were  hospitably 
entertained  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Andrew  Hodge;  and  when  in  a 
measure  recovered  from  the  fatigues  of  their  passage,  they  left 
Philadelphia  for  Princeton.  Here  they  were  received  with  every 
demonstration  of  respect  and  kindness,  and  became  for  a  time 
the  guests  of  Richard  Stockton,  Esq.,  the  gentleman  through 
whom  Dr.  Witherspoon  received  the  intelligence  of  his  first 
election  to  the  presidency  of  the  College,  and  who,  being  in 
London  at  that  time,  went  to  Scotland  to  confer  with  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon on  the  subject  of  his  removal  to  America.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  Doctor's  arrival  in  Princeton  the  College  edifice  was 
illuminated;  "and  not  only  the  whole  village,  but  the  adjacent 
country,  and  even  the  Province  at  large,  shared  in  the  joy  of  the 
occasion."* 

The  reception  given  him  was  very  grateful  to  his  feelings, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  alluded  to  it  in  modest  and  becoming 
terms  in  his  first  public  discourse  after  his  accession  to  the 
presidency. 

His  inauguration  took  place  on  the  i/th  of  August,  1768,  and 
on  this  occasion,  or  at  the  ensuing  Commencement,  on  the  28th 
of  the  next  month,  he  delivered  an  address  in  Latin  on  "  The 
Union  of  Piety  and  Science."  Although  the  College  was  in 
much  repute  at  home,  and  was  favorably  known  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration  of  its  affairs 
added  much  to  its  reputation  and  usefulness. 

It  is  said  by  President  Green  that  "  the  method  of  instruction 
by  lecture  had  never  been  practised  in  this  institution  till  it  was 
introduced  by  Dr.  Witherspoon,"  and  that "  he  delivered  lectures 
on  four  different  subjects,  namely,  on  Composition,  Taste,  and 
Criticism,  on  Moral  Philosophy,  on  Chronology  and  History, 
and  on  Divinity." 

His  lectures  .on  these  several  subjects,  with  the  exception  of 
those  on  Chronology  and  History,  or  the  outlines  of  them,  are 
published  in  Woodward's  edition  of  his  works. 

*  Dr.  Green's  Address  before  the  Alumni  Association  in  1840. 


388        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

We  are  inclined  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  statement  that 
Dr.  Witherspoon  was  the  first  at  this  College  to  use  the  method 
of  teaching  by  lecture,  as  something  very  like  it  must  have 
been  employed  by  President  Edwards  on  the  few  occasions  on 
which  he  met  the  students.*  And  in  his  letter  of  October  19, 
1757,  to  the  Trustees,  he  expresses  his  willingness,  in  case  he 
should  accept  their  offer,  "to  do  the  whole  work  of  a  Professor 
of  Divinity  in  public  and  private  lectures"  It  may  have  been, 
generally,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  curriculum  was  the  case, 
that  the  topics  or  theses  included  in  the  recitation  were  dis- 
cussed by  the  teacher  at  the  close  of  that  exercise  rather  than 
apart  from  it. 

In  an  account  of  the  College  published  by  order  of  the  Trus- 
tees in  1764,  four  years  before  Dr.  Witherspoon's  arrival  in 
this  country,  the  author  of  the  account,  after  mentioning  the 
methods  of  instruction  pursued  in  the  College,  speaks  of  them 
as  offering  "  advantages  which  are  seldom  attainable  in  the 
usual  method  of  teaching  by  lecture."  (See  account  of  Presi- 
dent Finley's  administration,  page  266.) 

Dr.  Green  also  attributes  to  Dr.  Witherspoon  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  and  French  languages  into 
the  College  course  of  instruction.  This,  so  far  as  the  Hebrew  is 
concerned,  is  unquestionably  an  error.  In  the  account  of  the 
College  just  referred  to,  it  is  expressly  said  that  "the  greater 
number  [of  the  students],  especially  such  as  are  educating  for 
the  service  of  the  Church,  are  initiated  into  the  Hebrew."  And 
in  his  letter  mentioned  above,  President  Edwards  says,  "  It 
would  be  out  of  my  way  to  spend  time  in  constant  teaching  of 
the  languages,  unless  it  be  the  Hebrew  tongue,  which  I  should 
be  willing  to  improve  myself  in  by  instructing  others ;"  the 
implication  from  which  is  that  even  in  Mr.  Burr's  time  the 
Hebrew  language  was  made  a  College  study.  And  in  the  ac- 
counts of  the  College  published  in  1764,  it  is  said,  "They  now 


*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  writer  has  learned  that  Mr.  Lewis  Evans,  of 
Philadelphia,  was  employed  by  President  Burr  in  the  summer  of  1751  to  deliver 
twelve  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  and  that  these  lectures  were  accompanied 
with  experiments  in  electricity. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN   WITHERSPOON.         389 

revise  the  most  improving  parts  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics, 
part  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  all  the  arts,"  etc.* 

Of  Dr.  Witherspoon 's  labors  as  an  officer  of  the  College,  and  as 
an  instructor  of  youth,  and  also  of  his  efforts  to  increase  the  funds 
and  the  usefulness  of  the  institution,  full  mention  was  made  in 
the  account  of  his  administration  of  its  affairs  from  the  summer  of 
1768  to  the  autumn  of  1794. 

In  addition  to  his  duties  as  President  of  the  College,  Dr. 
Witherspoon  discharged  those  of  minister  to  the  Princeton 
church  and  congregation.  Not  that  he  was  formally  installed 
as  pastor  of  this  church,  but  that,  in  conformity  to  the  course 
pursued  by  his  predecessors,  he  preached  regularly  on  the 
Sabbath  to  the  students  of  the  College  and  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  village,  who  in  these  days  were  wont  to  worship 
together. 

In  the  year  1770  there  was  manifest  among  the  students  of 
the  College  an  unusual  interest  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and 
a  like  state  of  things  occurred  also  in  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1772.  The  fruits  of  these  religious  awakenings  were  most 
happy,  as  they  gave  to  the  Church  not  a  few  of  her  ablest  min- 
isters and  elders,  and  to  the  State  some  of  her  best  and  most 
influential  citizens.  As  usual  in  such  times,  some  were  very 
earnest  friends  to  these  religious  revivals,  and  others  were  zeal- 
ous opponents,  deeming  them  evidence  of  the  fanaticism  of  those 
who  favored  them.  That  the  friends  were  always  discreet,  or 
that  the  opponents  were  always  sincere  and  honest,  is  more  than 
could  reasonably  be  looked  for  in  youth  under  this  condition  of 
things.  Hence  it  should  occasion  no  surprise  that  the  more 
ardent  of  the  youth,  on  whichever  side  arrayed,  should  regard 
the  cautions  given  them  by  their  wise  and  faithful  President  as 
evidence  that  he  was  not  fully  in  sympathy  with  those  who 
viewed  these  religious  excitements  as  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  as  evidence  that  God  had  heard  their  prayers  and 
had  crowned  with  success  their  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  not 
a  few  of  their  fellow-students.  And  this  was  actually  the  case 

*  Recently  the  writer  has  learned  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Joseph  Shippen,  a  graduate 
of  1753,  that  the  Hebrew  grammar  was  a  study  of  the  Freshman  class  in  1750. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

in  the  present  instance,  as  appears  from  a  letter  of  the  date  of 
April  1 8,  1772,  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellamy  by  one  of 
the  students,  Mr.  E.  Bradford,  afterwards  pastor  of  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  and  from  a  state- 
ment made  by  Colonel  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  also  a  student  at 
that  time,  and  published  by  his  executor  and  biographer. 
Messrs.  Bradford  and  Burr  were  fair  representatives,  one  of  the 
decided  friends,  and  the  other  of  the  equally  decided  opponents, 
of  the  revival. 

The  exact  truth  on  this  head  may  doubtless  be  gathered 
from  the  following  remarks  by  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  who  was  in- 
timately acquainted  with  Dr.  Witherspoon's  opinions  on  this 
and  other  subjects ;  no  man  more  so.  These  remarks  are 
copied  from  an  address  before  the  Alumni  Association  of 
Nassau  Hall,  delivered  in  September,  1840,  at  the  time  of 
the  annual  Commencement. 

"  It  was,  if  I  rightly  remember,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presi- 
dency that  a  general  revival  of  religion  took  place  in  the  College.  Several  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  and  several  men  in  secular  life,  received  in  this  revival  those 
impressions  of  religion  which  they  carried  with  them  through  the  remainder  of 
their  lives.  With  several  of  these  I  had  in  early  life  an  acquaintance.  With  one  I 
formed  a  most  endeared  friendship,  and  from  him  I  received  a  number  of  particu- 
lars, which  of  themselves  would  enable  me  to  contradict  what  I  have  heard  (for  I 
have  not  personally  received), — a  statement  made  in  the  '  Life  of  Colonel  Burr,' — 
that  Dr.  Witherspoon  thought  and  spoke  light  of  this  revival,  and  that  he  was,  in 
fact,  opposed  to  it.  But  in  truth  such  a  statement  is  so  contrary  to  the  known  and 
avowed  sentiments  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  and  even  to  what  he  declared  in  his  '  Lec- 
tures on  Theology'  were  his  chief  motives  in  coming  to  this  country,  that  it  cannot 
be  correct,  and  I  feel  bound  to  make  this  declaration  on  the  present  occasion.  He 
might,  and  I  know  he  did,  endeavor  to  correct  some  irregularities  and  imprudences, 
which  usually  take  place  when  youth  are  under  the  excitement  of  strong  religious 
feeling ;  but  that  he  rejoiced  in  the  revival  itself,  instead  of  opposing  it,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe." 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  controversies  which  led  to 
the  War  of  Independence  and  to  the  severance  of  the  thirteen 
united  Colonies  from  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  Dr. 
Witherspoon  openly  and  boldly  took  the  part  of  his  adopted 
country.  And  on  the  i/th  of  May,  1776,  the  day  selected  by 
the  National  Congress  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
of  prayer,  he  preached  a  sermon,  the  subject  of  which, 


MEMOIR   OF  THE  REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON.         39 j 

"  the  dominion  of  Providence  over  the  passions  of  men,"  was  founded  upon  the 
words  of  the  loth  verse  of  the  Ixxvi.  Psalm  :  "  Surely  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise 
thee :  the  remainder  of  wrath  shall  thou  restrain."  This  discourse  was  subse- 
quently published  with  a  dedication  to  the  Hon.  John  Hancock,  Esq.,  President  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  with  an  appendix  containing 
"  an  address  to  the  natives  of  Scotland  residing  in  America." 

In  handling  his  subject  he  went  fully  into  a  consideration  of 
the  state  of  affairs  in  the  American  Colonies,  and  gave  some 
wholesome  advice,  in  view  of  the  arduous  contest  and  the  civil 
strife  which  were  already  begun,  and  pointed  out  the  result 
which,  in  the  ever  overruling  providence  of  God,  might  be 
hoped  for  in  this  struggle  for  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  and  he 
took  occasion  to  warn  his  hearers  and  readers  of  the  importance 
of  being  prepared  for  death,  which  could  be  only  by  repentance 
towards  God  and  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  such  faith 
and  repentance  being  intimately  connected  with  a  belief  in  the 
natural  depravity  of  man,  from  which  sinful  condition  they 
could  be  rescued  only  by  the  grace  and  power  of  God. 

Several  things  in  this  discourse  are  in  full  accord  with  the 
advice  given  in  a  pastoral  letter  written  by  Dr.  Witherspoon 
and  issued  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  the 
year  before,  viz.,  in  May,  1775.  This  letter  recommends  to  all 
under  the  care  of  the  Synod  to  avoiv  their  allegiance  to  the  British 
Crown;  and  this  was  assented  to  by  the  entire  Synod,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Halsey,  who  was  a  year  in  ad- 
vance of  his  brethren  in  refusing  allegiance.  During  this  year 
a  great  change  took  place  in  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  whole 
community.  This  change  is  clearly  pointed  out  in  the  follow- 
ing passage  from  Dr.  Witherspoon's  speech  in  Congress  on  the 
conference  proposed  by  Lord  Howe: 

"  We  were  contending  for  the  restoration  of  certain  privileges  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain,  and  we  were  praying  for  a  reunion  with  her.  But  in  the 
beginning  of  July,  with  the  universal  approbation  of  all  the  States  now  united,  we 
renounced  this  connection,  and  declared  ourselves  free  and  independent." 

The  following  short  extracts  will  show  why  it  was  that  Dr. 
Witherspoon  took  such  a  deep  interest  in  the  contest  between 
the  Colonies  and  the  mother-country: 

"  You  are  all  my  witnesses  that  this  is  the  first  time  of  my  introducing  any 
political  subject  into  the  pulpit.  At  this  season,  however,  it  is  not  only  lawful  but 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

necessary :  and  I  am  willing  to  embrace  the  opportunity  of  declaring  my  opinion 
without  any  hesitation,  that  the  cause  in  which  America  is  in  arms  is  the  cause  of 
justice,  of  liberty,  and  of  human  nature.  So  far  as  we  have  hitherto  proceeded,  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  confederacy  of  the  colonies  has  not  been  the  effect  of  pride, 
resentment,  or  sedition,  but  of  a  deep  and  general  conviction  that  our  civil  and 
religious  liberties,  and  consequently,  in  a  great  measure,  the  temporal  and  eternal 
happiness  of  us  and  our  posterity,  depend  on  the  issue.  .  .  .  There  is  not  a  single 
instance  in  history  in  which  civil  liberty  was  lost  and  religious  liberty  preserved 
entire.  If,  therefore,  we  yield  up  our  temporal  property,  we  at  the  same  time 
deliver  the  conscience  into  bondage, 

"  You  shall  not,  my  brethren,  hear  from  me  in  the  pulpit  what  you  have  never 
heard  from  me  in  conversation ;  I  mean  railing  at  the  King  personally,  or  even  his 
ministers,  and  the  parliament  and  people  of  Britain.  ...  I  do  not  refuse  submis- 
sion to  their  unjust  claims,  because  they  are  corrupt  or  profligate.  ...  I  call  this 
claim  unjust  of  making  laws  to  bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  because  they  are 
separate  from  us,  independent  of  us,  and  have  an  interest  in  opposing  us.  ... 
This  is  the  true  and  proper  hinge  of  the  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and 
America.  This,  however,  is  to  be  added,  that  such  is  their  distance  from  us,  that  a 
wise  and  prudential  administration  is  as  impossible  as  the  claim  of  authority  is 
unjust.  Such  is  and  must  be  their  ignorance  of  the  state  of  things  here,  so  much 
time  must  elapse  before  an  error  can  be  seen  and  remedied,  and  so  much  injustice 
and  partiality  must  be  expected  from  the  acts  and  misrepresentations  of  interested 
persons,  that  for  these  colonies  to  depend  wholly  upon  the  legislation  of  Great 
Britain  would  be,  like  many  other  oppressive  connections,  injury  to  the  master  and 
ruin  to  the  slave." 

The  views  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  given  in  the  above  extracts, 
met  the  hearty  approval  of  the  friends  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  in  this  country;  and  they  doubtless  present,  distinctly 
and  fairly,  the  grounds  of  opposition  to  the  absolute  supremacy 
of  the  British  Government  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
Colonies.  The  colonists,  for  the  most  part,  were  especially 
jealous  of  their  religious  freedom,  and,  for  good  reasons,  were 
apprehensive  that  if  their  secular  affairs  were  once  under  the 
absolute  control  of  the  British  Government  their  religious 
liberty  would  soon  be  lost,  by  the  renewed  efforts  which  would 
be  made  to  subject  the  people  of  this  country  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  English  hierarchy  in  all  matters  connected  with  the 
education  and  religious  instruction  of  the  people. 

This  apprehension,  perhaps  more  than  any  one  thing  else, 
induced  the  friends  of  religion  generally  to  act  in  concert  with 
those  whose  aim  was  simply  a  political  one,  —  the  separation 
and  the  independence  of  the  Colonies. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JOHN   WITHERSPOON. 

It  seems  to  have  been  assumed,  both  by  the  Government  and 
the  Church  'of  England,  that  wherever  the  Crown  went  it  of 
course  carried  Episcopacy  with  it.  Upon  no  other  principle  can 
we  account  for  their  persevering  efforts  to  establish  diocesan 
Episcopacy  in  the  Colonies  generally.  Of  the  attempts  made 
to  establish  the  Episcopal  Church  as  a  branch  of  the  English 
Government  in  America,  and  the  influence  which  these  attempts 
had  in  bringing  on  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  a  detailed  and 
very  interesting  account  is  given. in  Dr.  Hodge's  "  Constitutional 
History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  vol.  ii.  pages  448-497. 

The  sermon  of  which  we  speak  was  republished  at  Glasgow, 
and  it  was  accompanied  with  notes  by  an  unfriendly  hand.  In 
these  notes  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  spoken  of  as  "  a  traitor  and  a 
rebel;''  and  no  doubt  this  Glasgow  edition  of  the  sermon  had 
much  to  do  in  defeating  the  Doctor's  efforts  to  collect  funds 
for  the  College  when,  after  the  termination  of  the  war,  he  went 
to  Scotland  to  solicit  aid  to  repair  the  wastes  which  the  institu- 
tion had  suffered  from  the  protracted  conflict. 

It  is  rather  surprising  that  a  man  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  repute 
for  wisdom  and  sound  judgment  should  ever  have  consented 
to  engage  in  such  an  undertaking,  especially  at  such  a  time. 

The  failure  of  his  mission  to  England  and  Scotland  was,  how- 
ever, attended  with  one  happy  result,  viz.,  that  the  Trustees 
were  thereby  made  to  know  that,  if  the  College  was  to  be  re- 
stored to  its  former  prosperity  and  usefulness,  it  must,  under 
God,  be  due  to  the  efforts  and  liberality  of  its  friends  at  home, 
and  more  especially  to  the  countenance  and  aid  of  the  members 
and  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  to  them  they 
again  made  an  earnest  and  successful  appeal. 

In  May,  1776,  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Convention  which  gave  to  New  Jersey  her  republican 
Constitution. 

"  It  has  always  been  understood,"  says  Judge  Elmer,  in  his  valuable  "  History  of 
the  First  Constitution  of  New  Jersey,"  "  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Witherspoon,  President 
of  Princeton  College,  took  an  active  part  in  preparing  it;"  and  he  adds,  "  This  in- 
strument bears  quite  as  prominent  marks  of  a  clerical  as  of  a  legal  origin,  although 
two  eminent  lawyers,  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant  and  John  Cleves  Symmes, 
were  members  of  the  Committee.  The  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  of  Morris  County,  was 
the  Chairman." 
VOL.  I. — 26 


HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  chosen  by  the 
Convention,  or  Provincial  Congress,  a  representative  of  New 
Jersey  in  the  Continental  or  General  Congress. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  he  voted  for  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, and  his  signature  is  affixed  to  the  document  con- 
taining that  declaration.  The  Articles  of  Confederation  between 
the  States  he  signed  in  November,  1778,  and  in  1780  he  left 
Congress,  but  was  induced  to  return  to  it  the  next  year. 

At  the  close  of  1782,  the  exigencies  of  the  country  no  longer 
demanding  of  him  a  sacrifice  of  his  own  interests  and  those  of 
the  College,  he  retired  from  all  service  in  the  National  Councils, . 
and  gave  himself  up  to  the  work  of  restoring  the  College  to 
its  condition  before  the  war.  Of  the  character  of  the  sacrifices 
here  referred  to  we  may  form  some  idea  from  the  following 
extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  a  friend  in 
Scotland.  The  letter  is  of  the  date  of  March  20,  1780,  and  it 
was  penned  at  the  Doctor's  farm,  near  Princeton. 

"...  I  have  now  left  Congress,  not  being  able  to  support  the  expense  of 
attending  it,  with  the  frequent  journeys  to  Princeton,  and  being  determined  to 
give  particular  attention  to  the  revival  of  the  College.  Professor  Houston,  how- 
ever, our  Professor  of  Mathematics,  is  a  delegate  this  year;  but  he  tells  me  he  will 
certainly  have  to  leave  it  next  November.  I  mention  this  circumstance  to  confirm 
what  I  believe  I  wrote  you  formerly,  that  the  members  of  Congress  in  general  not 
only  receive  no  profit  from  that  office,  but  I  believe  five  out  of  six  of  them,  if  not 
more,  are  great  losers  in  their  private  affairs.  This  cannot  be  otherwise,  for  none 
of  the  delegates  are  allowed  to  have  any  lucrative  office  whatever  either  in  their 
own  States  or  in  the  United  States ;  though  their  expenses  should  be  fully  borne, 
their  time  is  taken  up  and  their  private  estates  are  neglected.  .  .  .  You  know 
that  I  was  always  fond  of  being  a  scientific  farmer.  ...  I  got  a  dreadful  stroke 
from  the  English  when  they  were  here,  they  having  seized  and  mostly  destroyed 
my  whole  stock,  and  committed  such  ravages  that  we  are  not  yet  fully  recovered 
from  it. 

"  As  to  public  affairs,  it  seems  to  be  yet  undetermined  whether  we  shall  have 
peace  soon.  Greatly  do  I  and  many  others  desire  it;  and  yet  were  our  condition 
ten  times  worse  than  it  is,  nothing  short  of  the  clear  independence  of  this  country 
would  be  accepted." 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  had  he  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  English  army  in  the  early  part  of  the  war  he 
would  have  received  the  ordinary  treatment  of  "  a  traitor  and 
rebel,"  if  the  following  account  of  an  attempt  to  burn  him  in 
effigy  be  correct.  It  is  taken  from  Frank  Moore's  "  Diary," 


MEMOIR    OF   THE  REV.  JOHN   WITHE RSPOON.          395 

of  the  date  of  July  30,  1776,  and  it  is  said  to  be  given  on  the 
authority  of  a  soldier  in  Howe's  army. 

"  Just  before  the  thunder-storm  last  week  the  troops  on  Staten  Island  were  pre- 
paring figures  of  Generals  Washington,  Lee,  and  Putnam,  and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  for 
burning  in  the  night.  The  figures  had  all  been  erected  on  a  pile  of  fagots,  the 
generals  facing  the  doctor,  and  he  represented  as  reading  to  them  an  address.  All  of 
them,  excepting  General  Washington,  had  been  tarred  and  prepared  for  the  feathers, 
when  the  storm  came  on,  and  obliged  the  troops  to  find  shelter.  In  the  evening, 
when  the  storm  was  over,  a  large  body  of  the  troops  gathered  around  the  figures, 
which,  being  prepared,  were  set  on  fire  amid  the  most  terrible  imprecations  against 
the  rebels.  One  of  the  party  seeing  that  Generals  Putnam  and  Lee  and  Dr.  With- 
erspoon burnt  furiously  and  were  almost  consumed,  while  General  Washington  was 
still  standing,  with  the  tar  burning  off,  ran  away  frightened,  and  was  soon  followed 
by  most  of  his  companions.  Next  morning  the  figure  was  found  as  good  as  it  ever 
was ;  a  fact  which  caused  a  good  deal  of  fear  among  the  Hessian  troops,  most  of 
whom  were  superstitious,  and  it  was  not  until  some  of  the  officers  told  them  the 
cause  of  its  not  burning  that  they  appeared  contented.  The  reason  was  that;  having 
no  tar  on  it  before  the  rain  commenced,  it  became  saturated  with  water,  and  the  tar 
only  would  burn." 

This  story,  true  or  false,  serves  to  show  that  in  the  opinion  of 
both  friends  and  foes  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  one  of  the  mobt 
prominent  in  advocating  the  Revolution  ;  or,  to  use  an  expres- 
sion of  John  Adams,  the  second  President  of  the  United  States, 
respecting  him,  he  was  "  as  high  a  son  of  liberty  as  any  man  in 
America." 

While  yet  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon came  to  be  regarded  "  as  profound  a  civilian  as  he  was 
known  to  be  a  philosopher  and  divine."  He  had  clear  and 
decided  views  concerning  all  matters  of  public  interest,  and  in 
regard  to  several  important  measures  his  opinions  were  in 
advance  of  those  of  the  majority  in  the  National  Congress. 
Particularly  was  this  the  case  with  respect  to  the  emission  of 
unfunded  paper,  and  the  purchase  of  supplies  for  the  army  by 
allowing  a  commission  on  the  moneys  expended,  to  both  of 
which  measures  he  was  much  opposed.  Some  who  in  Con- 
gress dissented  from  his  views  on  these  subjects  afterwards 
adopted  them,  and  at  their  suggestion  he  published  the  speeches 
in  which  he  had  given  utterance  to  them.  At  this  day,  few 
persons  acquainted  witli  such  matters  will  venture  to  question 
the  soundness  of  his  positions.  Demagogues  who  know  better 


396        HISTORY  OF   THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

may,  for  party  or  personal  considerations,  advocate  a  different 
course. 

The  Doctor  was  a  leading  member  of  different  committees, 
and  occasionally  he  took  part  in  the  discussions  that  arose 
in  Congress ;  but  before  speaking  upon  any  important  question 
he  was  wont  to  commit  his  thoughts  to  writing;  and  then, 
watching  for  a  favorable  opportunity,  he  introduced  what  he 
had  to  say  by  first  alluding  to  something  said  by  a  preceding 
speaker,  and  thus  he  gave  to  his  speeches  the  air  of  extempo- 
raneous remarks,  while  they  had  all  the- advantage  of  a  logical 
and  compact  arrangement.  He  knew  that  he  was  master  of 
his  subject,  and  those  who  heard  him  knew  that  what  he  was 
about  to  say  was  worth  hearing.  And  yet,  perhaps,  there  were 
but  few  men  in  such  an  assembly  as  well  qualified  as  he  to  take 
part  in  an  extemporaneous  discussion. 

He  was  a  man  of  heroic  spirit  and  of  resolute  purpose,  and 
in  the  darkest  aspect  of  public  affairs  he  never  despaired  of 
the  final  triumph  of  the  cause  in  which  he  had  engaged,  and 
which  he  regarded  as  the  cause  of  religion  as  well  as  that  of 
civil  liberty. 

His  wisdom  and  foresight  as  a  statesman  are  shown  in  a  clear 
and  strong  light  by  the  ground  he  took  in  reference  to  the 
original  confederation  of  the  States. 

"  He  complained  of  the  jealousy  and  ambition  of  the  individual  States,  which 
were  not  willing  to  entrust  the  general  government  with  adequate  power  for  the 
common  interest.  He  then  pronounced  inefficacy  upon  it.  But  he  complained 
and  remonstrated  in  vain.  He  particularly  remonstrated  against  the  tardy,  ineffi- 
cient, and  faithless  manner  of  providing  for  public  exigencies  and  debts  by  requi- 
sition on  the  several  States.  He  insisted  on  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the 
government  of  the  Union  holding  in  its  own  hands  the  entire  regulation  of  com- 
merce, and  the  revenues  that  might  be  derived  from  that  source.  These,  he  con- 
tended, would  be  adequate  to  all  the  wants  of  the  United  States."  (See  sketch  of 
his  life  in  Dr.  Rodgers's  Funeral  Sermon.) 

The  evils  against  which  he  protested  so  earnestly  in  the  plan 
of  confederation  between  the  States  were  happily  corrected  in 
the  Constitution  of  1789,  and  he  was  permitted  to  see  his  views 
on  these  points  fully  sustained  by  the  adoption  of  this  Federal 
Constitution,  established  for  the  very  purpose  of  effecting  a 
more  perfect  union  of  the  States. 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON. 

Although  he  became  a  statesman,  he  ceased  not  to  be  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel,  but  continued  to  preach  as  opportunity  offered, 
and  to  discharge  all  other  duties  which  pertained  to  the  sacred 
office.  But,  great  as  were  the  services  which  he  rendered  the 
country  by  his  wise  counsels  in  the  National  Congress,  and  in 
the  sessions  of  Presbytery  and  Synod,  with  respect  to  national 
affairs,  it  admits  of  question  whether  his  example  on  the  whole 
would  not  have  been  more  salutary  had  he  confined  himself  to 
matters  which  properly  belong  to  a  minister  of  the  gospel  at  the 
head  of  a  college. 

The  question,  whether  a  minister  of  the  gospel  should  take 
part  in  the  administration  of  civil  affairs,  and  should  be  allowed 
to  hold  offices  of  trust  and  power  in  the  Commonwealth,  is  to 
be  determined  by  the  minister  himself,  without  hindrance  from 
any  source,  unless  it  be  from  the  Church  to  whose  service  he 
professes  to  devote  himself.  As  a  member  of  the  civil  com- 
munity, in  a  republic  at  least,  he  is  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 
of  a  citizen;  and  we  heartily  sympathize  with  Dr.  Witherspoon 
in  the  rebuke  which  he  administered  to  the  Convention  that 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Georgia, — which  body 
proposed  to  deprive  every  minister  of  the  gospel  of  the  right 
to  have  a  seat  in  the  Legislature.  The  Doctor's  strictures  are 
contained  in  a  letter  to  the  publisher  of  a  paper  which  had 
given  in  its  columns  the  new  Constitution :  they  are  a  com- 
ment upon  the  resolution,  "  No  clergyman,  of  any  denomination, 
shall  be  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly;"  and  he  suggests 
the  following  alterations: 

"  No  clergyman,  of  any  denomination,  shall  be  capable  of  being  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives,  because  [here  insert  the  grounds  of 
offensive  disqualifications,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover.]  Provided 
always,  and  it  is  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  part  of  the  Constitution,  that 
if  at  any  time  he  shall  be  completely  deprived  of  the  clerical  character  by  those  by 
whom  he  was  invested  with  it,  as  by  deposition  for  cursing  and  swearing,  drunk- 
enness or  uncleanness,  he  shall  then  be  fully  restored  to  all  the  privileges  of  a  free 
citizen ;  his  offence  shall  no  more  be  remembered  against  him :  but  he  may  be 
chosen  either  to  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives,  and  shall  be  treated  with 
all  the  respect  due  to  his  brethren,  the  other  members  of  the  Assembly." 

Lest  the  reader  may  infer  that  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  of  the 
opinion  that  in  an  ordinary  state  of  public  affairs  it  was  expe- 


398        lU STORY  OP    THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

dient  or  desirable  that  ministers  should  be  members  of  the 
Legislature  or  take  part  in  the  affairs  of  state,  it  may  be  well 
to  cite,  in  addition  to  the  above,  another  passage  from  the  same 
article : 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be  thought  that  they  are  excluded  from  civil  authority  that  they 
may  be  more  fully  and  constantly  employed  in  their  spiritual  functions.  If  this  had 
been  the  ground  of  it,  how  much  more  properly  would  it  have  appeared  as  an  order 
of  an  ecclesiastical  body  with  respect  to  its  own  members.  In  that  case  I  should  not 
only  have  forgiven,  but  approved  and  jtistified  it ;  but  in  the  way  in  which  it  now 
stands  it  is  evidently  a  punishment,  by  loss  of  privilege,  inflicted  on  those  who  go 
into  the  office  of  the  ministry,  for  which,  perhaps,  the  gentlemen  of  Georgia  may 
have  good  reasons,  though  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  them." 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  Dr.  Witherspoon  found, 
from  his  own  experience,  that  constant  attention  to  civil  affairs 
for  a  term  of  years  had  no  tendency  to  promote  a  minister's 
usefulness,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  required  increased  watch- 
fulness on  his  part  to  prevent  a  decline  in  personal  piety  and 
in  devotion  to  the  work  of  his  holy  calling. 

Before  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  College  he  had  at- 
tained, both  at  home  and  abroad,  a  well-earned  reputation  as  a 
man  of  great  talent,  learning,  and  piety,  and  he  was  regarded 
as  the  head  of  the  orthodox  party  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  as  their  leader  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Established 
Kirk.  His  opponent  at  the  head  of  the  Moderates,  as  the 
dominant  party  was  styled,  was  the  well-known  historian,  Dr. 
William  Robertson,  Principal  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 
Although  usually  in  a  minority,  Dr.  Witherspoon  on  one  occa- 
sion carried,  in  the  Assembly,  an  important  measure  against 
his  rival's  opposition,  upon  which  Dr.  Robertson  said  to  him, 
in  a  pleasant  manner,  "  You  have  your  men  better  disciplined 
than  formerly."  "  Yes,"  replied  Witherspoon  ;  "  by  urging  your 
politics  too  far  you  have  compelled  us  to  beat  you  with  your 
own  weapons."  (See  Dr.  Rodgers's  Funeral  Sermon.) 

His  translation  from  Beith  to  Paisley  was  earnestly  opposed 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Paisley,  on  account  of  his  being  the  re- 
puted author  of  the  "  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,"  a  keen  and 
severe  satire  upon  the  Moderates  in  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
From  the  Presbytery  the  question  of  the  transfer  came  to  the 
Synod  of  Glasgow  and  Ayr,  and  by  the  Synod  the  Presbytery 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN   WITHERSPOON. 

was  instructed  to  receive  the  Doctor  as  a  member  of  their  body 
and  to  instal  him  as  pastor  of  the  church  at  Paisley.  His  re- 
moval from  Beith  to  Paisley  took  place  in  January,  1757,  and 
in  that  or  the  next  year  he  was  chosen  Moderator  of  the  Synod. 
In  1768  he  left  Paisley  for  America.  Here  he  soon  became  the 
leading  man  in  the  different  Church  courts  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  and  to  the  close  of  his  life  he  was  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  large  committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  and 
Philadelphia,  in  1785, 

"  to  take  into  consideration  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  other 
Protestant  Churches,  and,  agreeably  to  the  general  principles  of  Presbyterian  gov- 
ernment, compile  a  system  of  general  rules  for  the  government  of  the  Synod  and 
the  several  Presbyteries  under  their  inspection,  and  the  people  in  their  communion, 
and  to  make  report  of  their  proceedings  herein  at  the  next  meeting  of  Synod." 

He  was  also  the  chairman  of  another  committee,  appointed 
at  this  same  meeting,  to  confer  with  like  committees  from  the 
"  Dutch  Reformed  Synod,  and  from  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod,  with  respect  to  the  measures  that  should  be  taken  to 
promote  a  friendly  intercourse  between  the  three  Synods ;  and 
to  devise  a  plan  of  some  kind  of  union  among  them,  whereby 
they  might  be  enabled  to  unite  their  interests  and  combine 
their  efforts  for  promoting  the  great  cause  of  truth  and  vital 
religion." 

This  action  arose  from  a  report  made  by  a  committee  ap- 
pointed, the  year  before,  to  meet  one  which  it  was  expected 
would  be  appointed  by  the  Dutch  Reformed  Synod,  to  adjust 
matters  of  difference  existing  between  them,  and  to  enter  upon 
an  amicable  correspondence  on  subjects  of  general  utility  and 
friendship  between  the  Churches. 

The  committees  from  the  three  Synods  met,  and  they  con- 
ferred at  large  upon  the  matters  intrusted  to  them,  and  made 
an  interesting  report,  which  is  given  in  the  printed  Minutes  of 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  pages  518-522. 

At  this  same  meeting  of  the  Synod,  in  May,  1785,  measures 
were  first  taken  for  the  division  of  the  Synod  into  four  separate 
Synods,  and  for  the' establishing  of  a  General  Synod,  or  Assem- 
bly; and  at  a  meeting  held  in  May,  1788,  all  the  requisite  steps 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

having  been  taken,  the  proposed  division  of  the  Synod  was 
consummated,  and  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  appointed  to  open  the 
sessions  of  the  first  General  Assembly  with  a  sermon,  on  the 
first  Thursday  in  May,  1789,  and  to  preside  until  a  Moderator 
be  chosen.  At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  a 
committee  to  revise  the  chapter  in  the  Directory  respecting  the 
mode  of  inflicting  Church  censures,  with  instructions  to  lay  the 
revision  before  the  General  Assembly  at  their  first  meeting,  to 
be  considered  and  finally  enacted.  The  same  committee  was 
also  charged  with 

"  the  duty  of  revising  that  part  of  the  draught  for  a  directory  for  worship  which 
respects  public  prayer  and  prayers  to  be  used  on  other  occasions,  and  to  prepare  it 
for  printing  with  the  Constitution." 

These  things  show  the  active  part  he  took  in  the  organization 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this 
country.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  in  the  years 
1787,  1791,  1792,  and  again,  but  for  the  last  time,  in  1794,  in 
November  of  which  year  he  departed  this  life. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  distinguished  for  the  variety  and  accu- 
racy of  his  knowledge :  religion,  ethics,  politics,  literature,  sci- 
ence, and  matters  pertaining  to  common  life  had  all  received 
from  him  more  or  less  attention  ;  and  his  published  works  afford 
evidence  of  his  familiarity  with  most  of  the  subjects  here 
named. 

Simplicity  and  plainness  of  style,  strength  and  purity  of 
language,  perspicuity  of  statement,  and  vigor  of  thought  are 
characteristics  of  all  his  writings. 

His  discourses  from  the  pulpit  are  worthy  of  special  notice, 
on  account  of  their  numerous  and  most  happy  quotations  from 
Scripture,  both  for  proof  and  for  illustration.  In  the  respect 
just  mentioned,  Dr.  Witherspoon's  sermons  are  particularly  de- 
serving the  attention  of  young  ministers,  who  cannot  fail  to 
add  to  the  impressiveness  of  their  discourses  by  following  so 
admirable  an  example.  No  language  is  better  understood  by 
most  hearers  in  Christian  congregations  than  the  language  of 
the  Bible ;  and  an  apposite  citation  of  Scripture  texts  enforces 
with  wonderful  power  the  lessons  to  be  inculcated. 

Dr.  Witherspoon,  as  we  learn  from  Dr.  Green, 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  JOHN   WITHERSPOON.         40! 

"  was  wont  to  deliver  his  discourses  from  memory,  and  yet  he  never  repeated 
from  memory  any  considerable  portion  of  Scripture,  however  perfectly  recollected, 
but  opened  the  Bible,  and  read  it  from  the  sacred  text.  His  action  in  speaking 
never  exceeded  a  graceful  motion  of  his  right  hand,  and  the  inclination  of  his  body 
forward,  when  much  in  earnest.  His  greatest  defect  in  public  speaking  was  the 
lowness  of  his  voice  when  he  began.  For,  although  his  voice  was  remarkably 
articulate,  the  distant  part  of  a  large  audience  could  not  hear  it  distinctly  for  a  few 
sentences  at  first ;  afterwards,  if  profound  silence  was  observed,  all  that  he  said 
was  easily  audible  by  every  attentive  hearer.  He  affirmed  that  the  nature  of  his 
voice  required  this  gradual  increase  of  its  volume  to  prevent  its  failing  altogether. 
Yet,  take  his  pulpit  addresses  as  a  whole,  there  was  in  them  not  only  the  recom- 
mendation of  good  sense  and  powerful  reasoning,  but  a  gracefulness  and  earnestness, 
a  warmth  of  affection  and  solemnity  of  manner,  especially  toward  and  at  their  close, 
such  as  were  calculated  to  produce  the  best  effects  of  sacred  oratory.  Accordingly, 
his  popularity  as  a  preacher  was  great.  The  knowledge  that  he  was -to  conduct 
a  public  service  usually  filled  the  largest  churches  in  our  cities  and  populous  towns, 
and  he  never  failed  to  command  the  attention  of  his  audience.  .  .  .  His  public 
prayers  were  admirable,  plain  in  language,  correct,  methodical,  abounding  in  a 
choice  selection  of  Scriptural  phrases,  and  uttered  with  the  appearance  of  deep 
devotional  feeling.  When  offered  on  special  occasions  their  appropriateness  was 
singularly  excellent.  His  manner  of  introducing  and  administering  the  Lord's 
Supper  surpassed  any  other  performance  of  that  sacred  service  which  the  writer 
[Dr.  Green]  ever  witnessed."  (See  "  Sprague's  Annals,"  vol.  iii.) 

There  can  be  no  better  authority  in  regard  to  the  matters 
mentioned  in  this  extract  than  that  of  its  author,  a  favorite 
pupil  and,  in  later  life,  an  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  ; 
and  there  can  be  no  room  for  doubt  that  we  have  here  the 
deliberate  judgment  of  the  community  in  general  with  respect 
to  Dr.  Witherspoon's  preaching;  and  yet  it  occasions  us  no 
surprise  that,  at  the  time  of  the  religious  excitements  which 
occurred  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  presidency,  he  should  have 
been  regarded  by  some  of  his  pupils  as  "  a  dull  preacher," — this 
being  the  expression  used  by  one  of  them,  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Bellamy,  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  opinion  entertained  of 
Dr.  Witherspoon's  preaching  by  the  writer  of  the  letter  and  by 
some  of  his  fellow-students.  It  is  not  improbable,  however, 
that  as  their  warmth  of  feeling  subsided,  and  they  were  able  to 
look  at  matters  more  calmly,  they  formed  a  juster  estimate  of 
their  President  as  a  preacher, — instructive,  earnest,  and  faithful. 

DR.  WITHERSPOON    AS    A   TEACHER. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  Dr.  Witherspoon's  great  ability 


402        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

as  a  teacher,  in  awakening  the  attention  of  his  pupils  to  the 
subjects  handled  by  him,  and  in  impressing  upon  their  minds 
the  truths  he  sought  to  inculcate.  The  influence  he  exerted  in 
moulding  the  views  and  opinions  of  a  large  number  of  youth 
who  in  after-life  became  leading  men  both  in  Church  and  in 
State,  without  any  direct  or  explicit  testimony  on  this  head, 
would  suffice  to  show  that  his  reputation  as  a  teacher  rested 
upon  a  firm  basis. 

Of  the  four  hundred  and  sixty-nine  graduates  of  the  College 
during  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presidency,  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
became  ministers  of  the  gospel;  and  of  these  ministers  nineteen 
became  Presidents  or  Professors  in  different  institutions  in  the 
States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Tennessee ;  thirteen  of 
the  nineteen  being  Presidents  of  the  colleges  with  which  they 
were  severally  connected.  Not  less  than  twenty-seven  others 
became  men  of  note  and  able  and  successful  pastors  of  churches 
in  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  District  of  Columbia. 

Of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  graduates  not  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  a  very  large  number  became  distinguished  civilians, 
and  not  a  few  efficient  officers  in  the  United  States  Army. 

One  was  for  eight  years  President  of  the  United  States. 

One  was  for  four  years  Vice-President. 

Six  were  members  of  the  Continental  Congress. 

Twenty  were  Senators  of  the  United  States. 

Twenty-three  were  members  of  the  United  States  House  of 
Representatives. 

Thirteen  were  Governors  of  individual  States,  viz.,  the  States 
of  Vermont,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 

Three  were  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

Twenty  or  more  were  United  States  officers  in  the  army  of  the 
Revolution. 

Thirty  others,  at  least,  became  distinguished,  some  for  their 
culture  of  letters,  some  for  their  medical  skill  and  knowledge, 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN   WITHERSPOON.         403 

others  for  their  legal  attainments  and  as  judges  and  attorneys- 
general,  and  others  as  active  and  useful  citizens. 

The  names  of  the  persons  here  referred  to  are  given  in  our 
history  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration. 

At  the  time  Dr.  Witherspoon  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his 
office  as  President  of  the  College,  the  speculations  of  Berkeley 
were  attracting  the  attention  of  the  riper  scholars  among  the 
students,  who  were  fascinated  by  the  acuteness  of  their  author 
and  by  the  novelty  and  boldness  of  his  positions.  But  this  did 
not  long  continue,  and  the  common-sense  view  of  things  which 
was  beginning  to  prevail  in  'Scotland  soon  gained  the  ascend- 
ency here,  under  the  guidance  of  the  new  President,  and  on  the 
part  of  the  students  the  doctrine  of  the  idealists  became  a 
matter  for  jest  rather  than  for  serious  debate.  As  an  instance, 
"  He  has  only  swallowed  a  red-hot  idea,"  was  the  sportive  remark 
of  one  of  them  respecting  a  fellow-student  who  had  been  too 
eager  to  partake  of  some  hasty-pudding. 

In  this  connection  should  be  stated  what  Dr.  Ashbel  Green, 
in  his  "  Life  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,"  says  respecting  his  mode 
of  treating  the  Ideal  system  of  Berkeley,  and  of  the  origin  of 
the  common-sense  system  of  Metaphysics.  "  He  first  reasoned 
against  the  [Berkeleyan]  system,  and  then  ridiculed  it  till  he 
drove  it  out  of  the  College.  The  writer  [Dr.  Green]  has  heard 
him  say  that,  before  Reid  or  any  other  author  of  their  views 
had  published  any  theory  on  the  Ideal  system,  he  wrote 
against  it,  and  suggested  the  same  trains  of  thought  which  they 
adopted,  and  that  he  published  this  essay  in  a  Scotch  maga- 
zine."* 

It  will  readily  be  conceded,  by  those  familiar  with  the  history 
of  our  country  and  also  with  that  of  our  College,  that  of  the 
statesmen  graduated  here  during  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Witherspoon,  James  Madison,  the  fourth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  the  ablest  and  most  eminent;  and  few  will 
question  the  propriety  of  placing  at  the  head  of  the  teachers 


*  This  passage  is  copied  from  President  McCosh's  admirable  "  History  of  the 
Scottish  Philosophy,"  and  not  directly  from  President  Green's  "  Life  of  Wither- 
spoon." 


404        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

and  divines  trained  here  during  the  same  period  Samuel  Stan- 
hope Smith,  the  immediate  successor  of  Dr.  Witherspoon  in 
the  presidency  of  the  College.  This  eloquent  preacher  and 
elegant  scholar,  without  a  rival  among  his  class-mates,  was 
one  of  those  students  who  were  carried  away  with  the  subtleties 
of  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne.  But  under  the  more  practical  view 
of  things  presented  by  Dr.  Witherspoon  in  his  lectures  on 
Moral  Philosophy,  he  embraced  the  opinions  of  his  new  pre- 
ceptor, and  maintained  them  ever  after. 

Bishop  Berkeley's  great  abilities  no  one  can  question,  and  he 
was  a  man  to  be  loved  and  honored  for  his  noble  qualities  of 
head  and  heart. 

To  point  out  the  influence  exercised  by  Dr.  Witherspoon  in 
moulding  the  views  and  character  of  Mr.  Madison,  I  shall  em- 
ploy the  language  of  Mr.  Madison's  biographer,  William  C. 
Rives,  himself  a  statesman  and  a  scholar: 

"We  have  seen,"  says  Mr.  Rives,  "how  liberal  and  expansive  a  field  of  inquiry 
was  opened  to  the  students  by  the  additions  which  Witherspoon  made  to  the  pre- 
vious curriculum  of  the  College.  The  increased  attention  paid  to  the  study  of  the 
nature  and  constitution  of  the  human  mind,  and  the  improvements  which  had  been 
lately  introduced  into  this  fundamental  part  of  knowledge  by  the  philosophical 
inquiries  of  his  own  countrymen,  constituted  a  marked  and  a  most  important  feature 
of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  reforms.  Mr.  Madison  formed  a  taste  for  these  inquiries 
which  entered  deeply,  as  we  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  remark,  into  the  char- 
acter and  habits  of  his  mind,  and  gave  to  his  political  writings  in  after-life  a  pro- 
found and  philosophical  cast,  which  distinguished  them  eminently  and  favorably 
from  the  productions  of  the  ablest  of  his  cotemporaries. 

********* 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  natural  and  interesting  inquiry  to  learn  what  were  the  personal 
relations  formed  between  that  eminent  man,  who  was  at  the  head  of  this  seat  of 
learning  and  patriotism,  and  the  pupil,  upon  whom  more  than  upon  any  other  one 
he  seems  to  have  impressed  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  his  own  mind,  for  no 
intelligent  reader  acquainted  with  their  works  can  fail  to  remark  how  much  the 
same  clearness  of  analytical  reasoning,  the  same  lucid  order,  the  same  precision 
and  comprehensiveness  combined,  the  same  persuasive  majesty  of  truth  and  felici- 
tous diction,  shine  forth  in  the  productions,  whether  written  or  spoken,  of  both. 
Such  intellectual  affinities,  joined  to  moral  worth,  could  not  but  form  a  strong 
bond  of  friendship,  and  of  mutual  confidence,  attachment,  and  respect,  between 
them.  These  sentiments  are  warmly  manifested  by  the  pupil  in  a  letter  written 
from  Princeton  to  his  father  the  gth  of  October,  1771 :  'I  should  be  glad  if  your 
health  and  other  circumstances  should  enable  you  to  visit  Dr.  Witherspoon  during 
his  stay  in  Virginia.  I  am  persuaded  you  would  be  much  pleased  with  him,  and 
that  he  would  be  very  glad  to  see  you.' " 


MEMOIR    OF   THE  REV.  JOHN   W1THERSPOON.         405 

Mr.  Rives  adds,  "  Dr.  Witherspoon  continued  to  feel  a  lively  interest  in  the 
studies  and  pursuits  of  his  pupil  after  the  formal  connection  of  the  latter  with  the 
College  was  terminated.  Young  Madison,  appreciating  at  its  just  value  the  aid  of 
so  enlightened  a  guide  and  counsellor,  and  desiring  to  avail  himself  of  the  riches 
of  the  College  Library,  determined  after  his  graduation  to  pass  one  year  more  at 
Princeton  as  a  private  student.  The  preceptor  and  pupil  were  destined  to  meet 
again,  after  the  lapse  of  nine  years,  in  the  supreme  councils  of  the  country,  as 
co-workers  in  the  great  cause  of  national  independence  and  national  union." 

Mr.  Bancroft  also  refers  to  Dr.  Witherspoon's  influence  in 
impressing  upon  Mr.  Madison's  mind  the  only  true  views  on 
the  subject  of  religious  liberty.  Speaking  of  the  declaration 
of  rights  submitted  to  the  Convention  of  Virginia  in  May, 
1776,  he  remarks : 

"  Only  one  clause  received  a  material  amendment.  Mason  had  written  that  all 
should  enjoy  the  fullest  toleration  in  the  exercise  of  religion.  ...  A  young  man, 
then  unknown  to  fame,  of  a  bright  hazel  eye,  inclined  to  gray,  small  in  stature, 
light  in  person,  delicate  in  appearance,  looking  like  a  pallid,  sickly  scholar  among 
the  robust  men  with  whom  he  was  associated,  proposed  a  change.  He  was  James 
Madison,  the  son  of  an  Orange  County  planter,  bred  in  the  school  of  the  Presbyterian 
dissenters  under  Witherspoon  at  Princeton*  trained  by  his  own  studies,  by  medita- 
tive rural  life  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and  by  an  ingenuous  indignation  at  the  perse- 
cution of  the  Baptists,  by  innate  principles  of  right,  to  uphold  the  sanctity  of 
religious  freedom.  He  objected  to  the  word  toleration,  because  it  implied  an  estab- 
lished religion,  which  endured  dissent  only  as  a  condescension  ;  and  as  the  earnest- 
ness of  his  convictions  overcame  his  modesty,  he  went  on  to  demonstrate  that  '  all 
men  are  equally  entitled  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion  according  to  the  dictates  of 
conscience.'  His  motion,  which  did  but  state  with  better  dialectics  the  very  pur- 
pose which  Mason  wished  to  accomplish,  obtained  the  suffrages  of  his  colleagues. 
This,"  adds  Mr.  Bancroft,  "  was  the  first  achievement  of  the  wisest  civilian  of 
Virginia." 

DR.  WITHERSPOON'S  WRITINGS. 

Dr.  Witherspoon's  first  publication  appeared  in  the  year  1753. 
under  the  title  of  "  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,  or  The  Arena 
of  Church  Polity,"  a  keen  satire,  aimed  at  certain  principles 
and  practices  then  prevailing  in  the  Church  of  Scotland.  So 
great  was  the  popularity  of  this  work  that  no  less  than  five 
editions  of  it  were  issued  within  ten  years  from  the  time  of  its 
first  appearance.  The  name  of  the  author  was  not  given  on 
the  title-page,  but  it  was  generally  and  correctly  ascribed  to 

*  The  italics  by  the  copyist. 


406        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

him  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  received,  by  both  friends 
and  foes,  was  an  earnest  of  the  position  he  was  soon  to  occupy 
in  the  councils  of  the  Scottish  Kirk.  The  work  was  favorably 
spoken  of  by  the  Bishops  of  London  and  of  Oxford,  and  it  is 
mentioned  in  President  Davies's  "  Diary,"  during  his  visit  to 
England  and  Scotland  in  1753-4,33  "a  burlesque,  the  humor  of 
which  is  nothing  inferior  to  Dean  Swift's."  At  the  close  of  the 
introduction  to  this  essay  occurs  the  following: 

"  N.  B. — I  shall  make  very  little  use  of  Scripture,  because  that  is  contrary  to  some 
of  the  maxims  themselves;  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel." 

This  performance  was  defended  in  a  later  one  under  the  title 
of  "  A  Serious  Apology"  for  the  Characteristics. 

In  1756  he  published  his  "  Essay  on  Justification,"  which  has 
been  repeatedly  reprinted;  and  in  the  next  year  appeared  his 
"  Serious  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Effects  of  the  Stage," 
being  an  attempt  to  show  that  the  contributing  to  the  support 
of  a  public  theatre  is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  a  Chris- 
tian. What  gave  rise  to  the  writing  and  the  publication  of  this 
treatise  was  the  representation  in  the  theatre  at  Edinburgh  of  a 
tragedy  written  by  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  In 
1784,  Dr.  Witherspoon  published  his  "  Practical  Treatise  on  Re- 
generation," and  at  the  same  time  he  republished  several  of  his 
other  works.  These  were  all  issued  from  the  London  press,  in 
three  volumes. 

A  sermon  entitled  "  Seasonable  Advice  to  Young  Persons" 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  on  Sabbath,  the  2 1st  of 
February,  1762,  at  the  Laigh  Church,  Paisley,  from  the  1st 
verse  of  the  ist  Psalm:  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not 
in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sin- 
ners, nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful."  The  sermon  was 
soon  after  published,  and  to  it  was  prefixed  "  an  authentic  nar- 
rative of  a  disorderly  and  riotous  meeting,  on  the  night  before 
the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  that  place,  which  gave 
occasion  to  the  discourse." 

In  this  "authentic  narrative"  he  makes  mention  of  mock 
preaching  and  praying,  and  use  of  the  words  employed  in  ad- 
ministering the  Eucharist,  and  he  gives  the  names  of  sundry 


MEMOIR    OF   THE   REV.  JOHN   W1THERSPOON.         407 

young  men  engaged  in  these  wicked  and  disgraceful  acts. 
The  righteous  indignation  of  the  author  of  the  sermon  and  of 
"  the  authentic  narrative"  against  the  conduct  of  the  persons 
concerned  is  more  to  be  commended  than  the  judgment  ex- 
hibited by  him  in  publishing  their  names,  especially  if  it  were 
the  aim  of  the  author  of  the  narrative  to  bring  the  guilty  parties 
to  a  sense  of  the  sinfulness  of  their  conduct,  and  to  repentance  for 
it.  At  the  close  of  the  narrative,  the  Doctor  suggested  that  one 
of  the  party  who  considered  himself  aggrieved  by  the  charge 
made  against  him,  and  who  was  a  young  lawyer, — a  Writer  to 
the  Signet, — should  prosecute  one  of  his  associates  who  had 
given  the  information  respecting  his  impious  allusion  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  get  him  punished  in  the  manner  he  justly 
deserved  if  the  charge  were  false.  Acting  perhaps  upon  this 
suggestion,  the  party  chiefly  implicated,  or  some  other  one  of 
the  company,  brought  suit  against  the  Doctor  himself  for  defa- 
mation of  character.  And  although  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  charges  against  the  whole  company  were  substantially 
true,  yet,  the  evidence  adduced  failing,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
judges,  to  establish  their  guilt  undeniably,  the  Doctor  was  sub- 
jected to  a  fine  and  costs,  which  greatly  embarrassed  him,  and 
laid  his  friends  under  pecuniary  obligations  from  which  they 
were  not  relieved  at  the  time  he  left  Scotland  for  America. 
The  gentleman  who  communicated  some  of  these  facts  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Green — the  letter  in  "  Sprague's  Annals,"  vol. 
iii. — gave  it  as  his  impression  "  that  had  it  not  been  for  the 
friendly  interference  of  those  particularly  interested  in  his  wel- 
fare, he  would  have  been  prevented  at  the  time  from  leaving  the 
country."  And  had  he  been  so  prevented,  who  can  conceive 
the  loss  which  would  thereby  have  been  sustained  by  the 
College  and  by  the  country  at  large  ? 

The  circumstances  here  detailed  remind  us  of  a  like  indis- 
cretion on  the  part  of  President  Edwards  while  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts  (of  which  mention  was 
made  in  our  sketch  of  his  life).  And  it  is  not  a  little  remark- 
able that  the  two  most  eminent  men  ever  at  the  head  of  our 
College  should  have  involved  themselves  in  great  and  ap- 
parently needless  troubles  from  a  lack  of  discretion  in  dealing 


408        HISTORY  OF   THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

with  sundry  wayward  young  persons  under  their  pastoral  over- 
sight by  giving  publicity  to  their  faults  and  their  names.  But 
these  were  isolated  cases.  On  the  part  of  neither  was  there 
ever  a  repetition  of  the  mistake;  and  throughout  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's  administration  of  twenty-six  years  he  was  eminently 
happy  in  directing  the  government  and  the  discipline  of  the 
College. 

The  edition  of  his  works  published  in  Philadelphia,  in  1800, 
by  W.  W.  Woodward,  printer,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  contains  all  of  his  writings  ever  given  to 
the  public.  Some  of  the  pieces  were  not  prepared  for  the  press 
by  the  author,  and  several  of  them  are  in  an  unfinished  state. 
His  speeches  and  articles  relative  to  the  war  and  to  various 
political  measures  contain  much  valuable  information  respect- 
ing the  country  at  that  period  of  its  history,  and  the  circum- 
stances contributing  to  the  first  success  of  the  Colonies  in  their 
struggle  for  independence.  One  of  these  was  the  ignorance 
of  the  British  Government  in  regard  to  the  opinions  of  the 
people  and  their  determination  to  maintain  their  liberty  at  all 
hazards.  In  his  article  on  "  The  Controversy  about  Independ- 
ence" the  following  passage  occurs  : 

"  The  conduct  of  the  British  Ministry  during  the  whole  of  the  contest,  as  hath 
been  often  observed,  has  been  such  as  to  irritate  the  whole  of  this  continent  to  the 
highest  degree  and  unite  them  together  by  the  firm  bond  of  necessity  and  common 
interest.  In  this  respect  they  have  served  us  in  the  most  essential  manner.  I  am 
firmly  persuaded,  that  had  the  wisest  heads  in  America  met  together  to  contrive 
what  measures  the  ministry  should  follow  to  strengthen  the  American  opposition 
and  to  defeat  their  own  designs,  they  could  not  have  fallen  upon  a  plan  so  effectual 
as  that  which  has  been  steadily  pursued.  One  instance  I  cannot  help  mentioning, 
because  it  was  both  of  more  importance  and  less  to  be  expected  than  any  other. 
When  a  majority  of  the  New  York  Assembly,  to  their  eternal  infamy,  attempted  to 
break  the  union  of  the  colonies,  by  refusing  to  approve  the  proceedings  of  Congress 
and  applying  to  Parliament  by  separate  petition,  because  they  presumed  to  make 
mention  of  the  principal  'grievance  of  taxation,  it  was  treated  with  ineffable  con- 
tempt. I  desire  that  it  may  be  observed  that  all  those  who  are  called  the  friends 
of  America  in  Parliament  pleaded  strongly  for  receiving  the  New  York  petition : 
which  plainly  showed  that  neither  one  nor  the  other  understood  the  state  of  affairs 
in  America.  Had  the  ministry  been  prudent,  or  the  opposition  successful,  we 
had  been  ruined ;  but  with  transport  did  every  friend  to  American  liberty  hear 
that  these  traitors  to  the  common  cause  had  met  with  the  reception  which  they 
deserved." 


MEMOIR    OF  THE   REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON.         409 

"  Nothing  is  more  manifest  than  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  even  the 
king  and  the  ministry,  have  been  hitherto  exceedingly  ignorant  of  the  state  of 
things  in  America.  For  this  reason,  their  measures  have  been  ridiculous  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  the  issue  disgraceful." 

No  one  reading  the  above  passage  will  question  the  Doctor's 
ardent  devotion  to  the  cause  of  American  liberty. 

Of  the  four  octavo  volumes  issued  by  Woodward,  the  first 
tivo  contain  the  funeral  discourse,  with  a  short  sketch  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon's  life,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rodgers,  of  New 
York,  preached  at  the  request  of  the  College,  his  essay  on  Jus- 
tification, his  treatise  on  Regeneration,  and  forty-seven  sermons 
on  various  subjects.  The  third  contains  "  An  Inquiry  into  the 
Scripture  Meaning  of  Charity,"  "A  Letter  respecting  Play- 
Actors,"  "  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,"  "  A  Serious  Apology 
for  the  Ecclesiastical  Characteristics,"  "  The  History  of  a  Cor- 
poration of  Servants,"  a  satire,  "  Lectures  on  Moral  Philos- 
ophy," "  Lectures  on  Eloquence,"  "  Letters  on  Education," 
"  Essay  on  Money,"  "  Letters  on  Marriage,"  "  Pastoral  Letter," 
prepared  for  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  at 
their  sessions  in  May,  1775,  and  a  burlesque  "  Recantation  of 
Benjamin  Towne,  Printer  and  Publisher  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Evening  Post,  of  Philadelphia." 

The  foiirtli  volume  is  of  a  more  miscellaneous  character  than 
any  of  the  others,  and  comprises  his  lectures  on  Divinity,  his 
defence  before  the  Synod  of  Glasgow,  a  number  of  essays  under 
the  title  of  "  The  Druid," — a  name,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  first 
number,  suggested  by  the  place  of  his  residence;  the  last  three 
numbers  being  devoted  to  the  notice  and  correction  of  American- 
isms, cant  phrases,  etc., — "  Reflections  on  Public  Affairs,"  "  On 
the  Controversy  about  Independence,"  "  Thoughts  on  American 
Liberty,"  "  Memorial  and  Manifesto  of  the  United  States,"  ad- 
dressed to  the  mediating  powers  in  the  conferences  for  peace, 
"The  Georgia  Constitution,"  "The  Federal  City,"  "Sundry 
Speeches  in  Congress,"  "  A  Description  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,"  "An  Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Jamaica  and  other 
West  India  Islands  in  Behalf  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,"  and 
a  few  other  papers  of  more  or  less  importance. 

Of  all  his  writings,  the  two  most  likely  to  be  reprinted  from 
VOL.  i. — 27 


HISTORY  OF  THE   COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

time  to  time  are  his  "  Essay  on  Justification"  and  his  "  Practical 
Treatise  on  Regeneration,"  but  his  entire  works  are  a  valuable 
addition  to  any  library,  private  or  public.  His  theology  was 
that  of  the  Westminster  divines,  as  set  forth  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith  and  in  the  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  Scotland  and  of  the  United  States.  We  are  informed  by 
the  editor  of  this  edition  of  his  works  that  Dr.  Witherspoon 
did  not  intend  his  lectures  on  Moral  Philosophy  for  publication, 
and  that  he  viewed  them  as  nothing  more  than  a  syllabus  or 
compend  upon  which  he  might  enlarge  before  a  class.  In  this 
manner  they  were  used  by  Dr.  Green  himself  during  the  ten 
years  that  he  was  President  of  the  College.  The  lectures,  as 
published,  undoubtedly  contain  much  valuable  information  re- 
specting the  various  opinions  entertained  by  preceding  writers 
on  the  subjects  which  he  handles,  and  also  just  comments  on 
the  views  taken  by  them,  rather  than  a  precise  and  sharply- 
defined  exposition  of  his  own  views. 

From  a  letter  of  his,  of  the  date  of  March  20,  1780,  to  a 
Glasgow  friend  and  correspondent,  it  appears  that  his  health 
after  his  removal  to  America  had  been  good,  with  the  exception 
of  a  succession  of  fits,  thought  by  his  physician  to  be  of  an 
apoplectic  kind.  From  these,  however,  he  recovered,  and  at  the 
date  of  his  letter  he  had  much  improved  in  health  since  these 
comparatively  recent  attacks.  It  has  been  supposed  that  these 
fits  may  in  a  measure  be  traced  to  a  shock  given  to  his  nervous 
system  while  he  was  yet  a  young  minister  residing  at  Beith, 
in  consequence  of  having  been  taken  a  prisoner  by  the  High- 
landers in  the  service  of  the  Pretender  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk, 
January  17,  1746,  and  kept  in  close  confinement  by  them  for  a 
fortnight:  he  being  at  that  time  in  a  feeble  state  of  health  from 
over- much  study.  Not  apprehending  any  danger,  he  had  gone 
to  be  merely  a  spectator  of  the  expected  conflict. 

A  short  time  before  writing  the  letter  above  mentioned,  he 
gave  up  his  house  at  the  College  to  his  son-in-law,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Smith,  the  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  and  retired  to 
his  house  and  farm,  about  a  mile,  or  a  little  more,  from  the  Col- 
lege. At  this  rural  retreat,  named  by  him  Tusculum,  he  resided 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON. 

fifteen  years,  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to  the  improvement  of 
his  health  and  his  farm. 

His  duties  at  the  College,  however,  continued  to  demand 
much  of  his  time  and  attention  ;  nor  did  he  remit  in  his  devotion 
to  the  affairs  of  the  College  even  after  he  lost  his  sight,  which 
happened  a  few  years  before  his  decease.  He  employed  gen- 
erally one  of  the  students  to  read  to  him  and  to  act  the  part 
of  an  amanuensis  in  conducting  his  correspondence.  He  also 
continued  to  preach,  having  a  sermon  read  to  him,  which  with- 
out any  further  aid  he  was  able  to  pronounce  on  any  given 
occasion, — the  psalms  and  hymns  and  passages  being  repeated 
from  memory. 

It  is  probable  that  his  farming  was  not  a  success,  and  added 
but  little,  if  anything,  to  his  income.  And  it  is  said  that  certain 
speculations  into  which  he  was  induced  to  enter  for  the  pur- 
chase of  lands  in  the  newly-formed  State  of  Vermont  involved 
him  in  pecuniary  embarrassments,  which  became  a  source  of 
trouble  and  anxiety.  He  was  drawn  into  this  adventure,  as 
appears  from  one  of  his  letters,  chiefly  from  a  hope  that  he 
would  have  it  in  his  power  to  render  a  service  to  such  of  his 
fellow-Scotchmen  as  might  emigrate  to  America,  by  securing 
for  them  an  opportunity  to  buy  good  land,  contiguous  to  the 
best  markets,  upon  the  most  favorable  terms.  For  his  share  in 
this  undertaking  he  was  sharply  attacked  in  an  article  published 
in  a  Scotch  paper,  and  was  charged  with  a  want  of  proper  re- 
gard to  the  interests  of  his  native  country.  Although  he  suc- 
cessfully repelled  the  charge  brought  against  him,  it  would  have 
been  better  had  no  occasion  been  furnished  for  the  bringing  of 
it.  Ministers  had  better  remain  poor  than  engage  in  money- 
making  schemes,  failure  in  which  is  sure  to  bring  more  or  less 
reproach,  and  success  no  honor. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  noted  for  his  social  qualities.  And 
although  he  never  forgot  what  was  becoming  a  gentleman, 
and  especially  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  he  made  himself  agree- 
able to  the  young  as  well  as  to  those  of  mature  age,  and  his 
company  was  eagerly  sought  by  them,  whether  their  object 
was  instruction  or  pleasure.  He  possessed  a  vein  of  abundant 
humor,  and  his  wit  was  of  a  special  kind,  of  which  some  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

published  works  furnish  ample  proof,  without  any  reference  to 
the  traditions  respecting  it  still  prevalent.  His  sermons,  it  is 
believed,  show  no  trace  of  it. 

Many  other  matters,  which  with  great  propriety  might  have 
been  introduced  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  were  given  in  the 
account  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration.  These,  if  not 
wholly  passed  without  notice,  have  been  but  little  dwelt  upon 
in  this  sketch  of  the  Doctor's  life. 

The  following  remarks  are  copied  from  Dr.  Rodgers's  funeral 
discourse: 

"  Accustomed  to  order  and  regularity  in  business  from  his  youth,  he  persevered 
in  his  attention  to  them  through  his  whole  life.  And,  I  may  add,  there  was  nothing 
in  which  his  punctuality  and  exactness  were  more  sacredly  observed  than  in  the  devo- 
tional exercises  of  the  Christian  life.  Besides  the  daily  devotions  of  the  closet  and 
the  family,  it  was  his  stated  practice  to  observe  the  last  day  of  every  year,  with  his 
family,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer ;  and  it  was  also  his  practice  to  set 
apart  days  for  secret  fasting  and  prayer,  as  occasion  suggested.  Bodily  infirmities 
began  at  length  to  come  upon  him.  For  more  than  two  years  before  his  death 
he  was  afflicted  with  loss  of  sight,  which  contributed  to  hasten  the  progress  of  his 
other  disorders.  These  he  bore  with  a  patience  and  even  with  a  cheerfulness  rarely 
to  be  met  with  in  the  most  eminent  for  wisdom  and  piety.  Nor  would  his  active 
mind,  and  his  desire  of  usefulness  to  the  end,  permit  him,  even  in  this  situation,  to 
desist  from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  and  his  duties  in  the  College,  as  far  as  his 
health  and  strength  would  admit.  He  was  frequently  led  into  the  pulpit,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  during  his  blindness,  and  always  acquitted  himself  with  more 
than  his  usual  solemnity  and  animation.  And  we  all  recollect  the  propriety  and 
dignity  with  which  he  presided  at  the  last  Commencement.  He  was  blest  with 
his  reasoning  powers  to  the  very  last. 

"  At  length  he  sunk  under  the  accumulated  pressure  of  his  infirmities,  and  on  the 
1 5th  day  of  November,  1794,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  he  retired  to  his 
eternal  rest,  full  of  honor  and  full  of  days." 

The  more  immediate  cause  of  his  death  was  the  dropsy. 

From  the  University  of  Aberdeen  he  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  in  Divinity,  and  from  Yale  College  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws. 

DR.  WITHERSPOON'S  FAMILY. 

When  Dr.  Witherspoon  came  to  this  country,  his  family  con- 
sisted of  himself,  his  wife,  and  five  children,  three  sons  and 
two  daughters.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth  Montgomery,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Montgomery,  of  Craighouse,  Ayrshire,  Scotland. 
His  three  sons  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  became 


MEMOIR    OF  THE  REV.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON. 

graduates  of  this  institution.  James,  the  eldest  son,  was  an  aide 
to  General  Nash  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  John,  the  second 
son,  was  a  physician,  and  settled  in  the  parish  of  St.  Stephen, 
South  Carolina.  He  died  in  1795.  The  third  and  youngest 
son,  David,  settled  in  New-Berne,  North  Carolina,  where  he 
practised  law.  He  married  the  widow  of  General  Nash,  and 
he  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  R.  Witherspoon,  the 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  1836. 

The  eldest  daughter,  Ann,  became  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
S.  S.  Smith,  Dr.  Witherspoon's  successor  in  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  College ;  and  her  sister,  Frances,  was  married  to  Dr. 
David'Ramsay,  a  physician  and  a  historian  of  much  note,  whose 
residence  was  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Dr.  Ramsay  was 
a  member  of  the  National  Congress,  and  for  one  year  he  was 
the  President  of  that  body. 

Mrs.  Witherspoon  died  in  1789,  and  about  a  year  and  a  half 
after  her  death  Dr.  Witherspoon  married  Mrs.  Dill,  the  widow 
of  Dr.  Dill,  a  physician  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  step-daughter  of 
the  Rev.  William  Marshall,  a  minister  of  the  Associate  Church. 
By  this  marriage  he  had  two  daughters,  of  whom  one  died  in 
infancy;  the  other,  Mary  Ann,  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
James  S.  Woods,  who  for  many  years  was  the  faithful  and 
honored  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Lewistown,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

EPITAPH. 

By  order  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  a  slab  of  marble, 
with  the  following  inscription,  was  placed  on  Dr.  Witherspoon's 
grave : 

Reliquiae  Mortales 

Johannis  Witherspoon,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Collegii  Neo-Ca;sariensis  Pnesidis,  plurimum  venerandi, 

sub  hoc  marmore 

inhumantur. 

Natus  parochio  Vesternensi  Scotorum, 

Nonis  Februarii,  MDCCXXII.  V.  S. 

Literis  humanioribus  in  Universitate  Edinburgensi 

imbutus. 
Sacris  ordinibus  initiatus,  Anno  MDCCXLIII. 


414        HISTORY  OF  THE    COLLEGE    OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Munus  pastorale 

per  viginti  quinque  annos  perfunctus  est, 

primo  apud  Beith,  deincle  apud  Paisley. 

Prsese>  designatus  Aulae  Nassovicse,  Anno  MDCCLXVII. 

in  Americam  migravit,  Anno  MDCCLXVIII. 

Idibus  Sextilis. 

Maxima  expectatione  Omnium, 

Munus  prsesidiale  suscepit. 

Vir  eximia  pietate  ac  virtute 

Omnibus  dotibus  animi  prseellens 

doctrina,  atque  optimarum  artium  studiis, 

penitus  eruditus, 
Concionator  gravis,  solemnis. 

Orationes  ejus  sacrse 
prseceptis  et  institutis  vitse 

prcestantissimis, 
necnon  expositionibtis  sacrosanctse  scripturse 

dilucidis 
sunt  replete. 

In  sermone  familiari  comis,  lepidus,  blandus, 
rerum  ecclesise  forensium 

peritissimus. 

Summa  prudentia, 

et  in  regenda,  et  instituenda  juventute, 

praeditus. 
Existimationem  collegii  apud  peregrines 

auxit : 

bonasque  literas  in  eo  multum  provexit. 
Inter  lumina  clarissima,  et  doctrinse  et  ecclesise, 

diu  luxit. 

Tandem,  veneratus,  dilectus,  lugendus  omnibus, 

animam  efflavit,  XVI.  Kal.  Decem. 

Anno  Salutis  Mundi,  MDCCXCIV. 

aetatis  suse  LXXIII. 


END   OF  VOL.    I. 


A13 


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